Philanthropy
by Major Xero
Summary: Philanthropy missions that take place before and after Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Crossover with Metal Gear Solid 4: Dead Heaven. Rated M for mature audiences now because of graphic death scenes.
1. Insertion Point Arkansas

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FANFICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FANFICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

Author's Note: Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, let the story begin! This is my first work, so constructive reviews are appreciated and encouraged.

**S**olid Snake awoke in bed with a start upon hearing a clatter on the floor in the next room. Snake forced himself to rise from his slumber. _Sometimes I hate my senses..._ Snake thought. Snake's senses were very fine-tuned, something that had not changed since he joined FOX-HOUND. Maybe he'd have to start wearing ear plugs. But dismissing awakening from his light sleep, he picked up his equipment belt that laid on the small night stand next to his single-person bed and strapped it to his waist. He then picked up the USP from under the small table, which was strapped to the bottom of the table. He holstered the weapon on his belt and kept one hand on the hilt as he slowly pushed the door open...

Oh, wait. It was Otacon. Apparently he had dropped a dish of small gumball-like spheres, in which Otacon had still been picking up. "Well, Hal, how are you?" Snake asked sarcastically. Otacon looked surprised when Snake said something. After composing himself, Otacon looked up at Snake. "Oh nothing, just picking up these small explosives Mei Ling wanted stored while we were here," Otacon answered. "Well, you're doing a great job at keeping them in the dish." Snake irritably responded. "What's up with you?" Otacon asked. "If I was bothering you, I'm sorry. But it's already 4:00. You need to deploy before sunrise." Snake looked slightly fatigued.

**Later...in the Zezro 94...**

The Zezro 94 was a new special operations military airfighter. The United Nations had granted permission of use for Philanthropy to use this new air vehicle, but Otacon often stole vehicles when necessary in order to complete their missions. The legendary mercenary waited in the launch room sporting a militia parachute, waiting for arrival to the insertion point. It seemed as soon as Snake started thinking about when arrival was to come, a voice came over the speakers.

"Alright, ETA one minute. Prepare for HALO jump." Snake stood up, checking his parachute and his other gear. After thoroughly inspecting his equipment and parachute, he stepped on the loading platform, readying himself for the upcoming 30,000 foot high fall. With a deep breath, a quick, final inspection, and a stretch, he threw himself off of the flying hulk of steel and rocketed toward his destination.

"Alright, Snake. Let's go over your mission objectives again, just to be clear." came a voice erupting from Snake's codec. "Your mission is to locate and eliminate Metal Gear ZEV, a prototype Metal Gear that is in custody of the out-of-the-way military research base found in a complete deserted area of Arkansas. The United Nations has encouraged us to stop this threat before it starts, to save them trouble later." "What does ZEV stand for?" Snake questioned. "Zenzaroc Equivalatory Vix," Otacon replied. "Odd name," Snake commented. "Yeah, but you've gotta remember, these are the Arkansans." "Hmm...good point," Snake agreed. "But, while these soldiers may just be hicks, they're more than capable in terms of skill. I would suggest keeping away from them, hence the name 'sneaking mission.'" "Don't worry, my common sense hasn't died yet," Snake returned.

Snake activated his parachute when he was three-fourths the distance away from the ground. Snake had his eyes closed beneath his breath mask, trying not to look down. Of course, Snake had done this before, but it was not his most favored insertion method. After what seemed an eternity, Snake touched down softly.

"Arrived at insertion point," Snake said to Otacon.

_As I stated before, this is my first story. Please read and review. I accept constructive criticism, but ignore tactless and rude criticism._


	2. Into The Unknown

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

"Arrived at insertion point," Snake said to Otacon.

"Good," said Otacon. "Let's go over your equipment, Snake. On this mission you have been issued a standard-issue Beretta with a silencer." Otacon explained. "Also, you've been equipped with...what? Why did you bring cigarettes, Snake?" "It's a charm I like to carry around," Snake said. "But cigarettes cause --" "I know what they cause," Snake interrupted, "but I smoke, Otacon. Can't change that." Otacon let out a deep sigh, and moved on. "Military bincoulars that have 10x zoom are also with you." Otacon stated. "You've also been equipped with a combat knife," Otacon said. "Use it when you're in close combat." "I hate blades," Snake said as he drew the combat knife and threw it in a puddle nearby. "Right," Otacon said. "Forgot." "Your soliton radar will be functional throughout the mission, as well as your codec. Mei Ling has made a new model of the codec that allows for the sending photographs via a personal network linked directly to me. There's a reason for this; you're also equipped with a digital camera. I need you to take pictures of this Metal Gear ZEV and send them to me." Will do," Snake confirmed. "Commencing operation..." said Snake as he turned off the codec and headed down to the complex...

Snake was in a very hilly area of Arkansas, close to Hot Springs, near the mountains. The lush green trees and the remaining leaves from the Autumn season populated the area. Even though the sun was covered by large rain clouds, there was enough light to accentuate the beauty of this green plain. Snake walked on. When he was fifty yards away from the main entrance of the complex, he pulled out his binoculars and zoomed in on the looming mass before him. _The complex seems too small to house something of the size of a Metal Gear..._ Snake thought. Maybe it was kept underground. Or maybe it was just a small Metal Gear. Seeing four sentries on the left and right of the main entrance, Snake studied their surveillance method. The sentries weren't moving at all except for shifting their head from time to time. Snake would have to create a diversion.

Snake moved ayhead, using large rocks and hills as cover. When he was 25 yards away, he picked up a large stone. Winding his arm back, Snake flung the stone exactly eight feet away from the post of sentries. All of them heard the noise, but only two went to investiage. _Hmm..._ Snake pondered. Finding another stone, he aimed the mass at the wall nearby the two remain9ing sentries. The stone made a loud _thwack_ noise as it bounced off of the stone and steel wall. The other two sentries looked worried, raising their assault rifles at the direction of the noise. They strategically moved forward to their left, and Snake took this as his chance. Snake drew the silenced Beretta and took aim the the sentries he first distracted. He fired and, _splat_, The guard got out a small whimper as he fell to the welcoming ground. Of course, this distracted the other three, just as Snake planned. He took aim and fired three more rounds, each hitting their head, chest, and lungs. The two sentries that had taken the head shot and the heart pierce were dead. However, the unlucky soul who had his lungs punctured by the lead projectile was utterly silenced, but still alive, suffering greatly. Snake walked over to the soldier and aimed a shot at his head and sent God the sufferer.

Snake didn't like to take lives, but when he had to, he would do it without regret. Snake's philosophy seemed to be something equivalent to "Do what you have to do." Besides, these soldiers knew the risks when they called themselves a "soldier." A soldier's life is sacrifice -- devotion to the country they bind themselves to. But then Snake started thinking about his own life. It somehow wasn't fair -- these soldiers look as if they had not yet reached 23, yet Snake was 35. Some are lucky, others aren't.

Snake examined the large door. It said "Personal Area Network" underneath the large, white-painted number 5. Snake was familiar with the PAN -- "Donald Anderson" had expalined to him about these amazing cards -- they use your own body's electrical field to power the door and the card. It uses the salts in your body as the transmission medium. The computer then reads the data stored in the card, and if the card clearance level was equivalent or higher than the door's security level, the door would open automatically. But Snake had no card. He searched the corpses of the fallen and found the same card on each of them -- a level-one security card. But why would these sentries only have level one cards when they were guarding a level 5 door? Maybe the door would be open constantly, something the Arkansans didn't want. Or maybe there was another entrance somewhere that required only level one security clearance.

Snake searched the vicinity. Nothing. There were no entrances into the complex in the front. Snake peered down the side of the complex. And, to Snake's luck, he saw a hatch -- a hatch the had an air lock. Snake walked over to it and turned the hatch and found a latter leading downward. Snake thought, _Well, there's no other way in..._so with a foot on the top foothold, he slowly descended into the unknown.

It took a while. When finally reached the bottom, he saw a level one door. _Bingo._ Snake thought. He walked to the door and it slid open. Walking into the area, he saw a huge area -- much, much bigger than the area above. _This is probably where Metal Gear is being stored..._Snake deduced. "Otacon," Snake said into his codec, "I'm inside. "Alright. Now, you need to get down to the lower hold --" "I'm already there," Snake interrupted. "Had to find a way around." "Where?" Otacon asked. "Found a air hatch leading to a latter to the left of the complex." "I see. Well, be on your guard. And remember that this is a..." Otacon began. "Stealth mission," Snake finished. "Very good." "Alright, I'll search around for the Metal Gear ZEV." "Alright. See you later, Snake!" Otacon concluded. Snake turned off his codec. He proceeded forward dimly-lit area...


	3. Out of the fire and into the inferno

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

He proceeded forward into the dimly-lit area...

Snake drew his Beretta and stalked around quietly. It seems this area was wholly unguarded. _Odd..._ Snake thought. _If there is a Metal Gear here, why is this place unguarded? _Almost as if on cue, Snake got his answer.

Equipped around the room were Semtex and infrared sensor projectors. The infrared sensors were linked wih the Semtex by the means of a central control unit. There was a single node that had a flickering green light on it, faitrly large, and poking out of the wall. Snake knew what he had to do. He cocked his Beretta and sired a single round into the controlling unit. It showered a few sparks onto the stone floor beneath it before its electricity died out. Snake heard a low _hum..._ noise before a loud _click_. Snake walked forward, watching ever-vigilant against other surprises.

After the better part of the hour, Snake found a large tarp-covered mass in the central underground area. _This must be it..._ Snake thought. Snake bent down to one knee and placed two fingers under his ear. "Otacon, I've found what I expect to be Metal Gear ZEV," Snake said into the codec. "Good job, Snake! Remember, first take some pictures --" "It's covered with a tarp." Snake intervened. "A tarp? Hmm..." Otacon thought aloud. "Is there anyone around?" Snake examined from his place at the top of the railing around the war machine. There were many sentries, fifty of them, no less, all watching Metal Gear. They seemed to be making routine radio reports to their commander. "Yes, about fifty, I'd say." "Man, heavy surveillance. I don't know what to say, Snake, other than..." "What?" Snake asked. "Well...this would cause a lot of heat on us, but you could just destroy it there and now, along with anyone who is in the way," Otacon explained. "Destroy it? I have no weapon of the caliber to destroy it." Snake pointed out. "Well, you could use some type of explosive. I'm sure they have explosives in a military research complex." Snake was thinking..._I could use that Semext I found earlier..._ "Otacon, I have an idea. I encountered some Semtex earlier. If I could take it with me, and destroy it with my gun, it would explode, right?" "Yes, but Semtex is highly explosive --" "Not these types. They're the NN-C1 models. They're only meant to clear areas of debris." Snake pointed out. "I say give it a shot. There's nothing else we can do." Otacon said. Snake headed out to the Semtex.

Snake arrived at the Semtex area exactly the way it was. So Snake set to work picking up the inactive explosives and placing them in his equipment belt pouches. After that was done, he headed back...

The area now was much less guarded than before. Now there were only fifteen of the fifty guarding the Metal Gear. Ignoring this, but knowing the militia was up to something, he climbed down the latter quietly. "You need to target eighteen key structural points --" Otacon went on about base leg areas and cerebral control points to set the Semtex on. After Otacon was finished explaining, Snake set the Semtex on seventeen of the eighteen points that need to be destroyed. Now there were only eight sentries left. Disregarding the last point (because Snake only had seventeen charges instead of eighteen), Snake climbed steadily back up the latter. He then took a sniping-like position and drew his Beretta. His laser sighting of the gun met with one of the Semtex. Snake pulled the trigger and a loud _boom_ filled the area. Just like dominoes, one explosion set off another and soon, the tarp-covered Metal Gear was destroyed. Of course, Snakr then heard many, many footsteps -- probably all of the disappearing guards returning. Snake ran for the exit, evading enemy gunfire and taking some of them down when necessary, and found the level one security door he entered the complex with. The door slid open and Snake Snake shot the controlling processor panel beside the security door. _That should buy me some time..._ Snake thought. He quickly climbed up the steel footholds one by one until he reached the air lock hatch. He pushed it open and emerged from the ground.

"Otacon," Snake said into his codec, "I've managed to complete my mission objectives but around fourt-five sentries are tailing me. I need an escape route now!" "Otacon said "Don't worry, I've sent a message to the pilot of the Zezro 94 already and he's coming down there in around five minutes. "Good... Thanks, Otacon," Snake said. Snake waited about three-and-a-half minutes, and the aircraft appeared above him. He was hovering low to the ground, and he dropped a rope latter. Snake grabbed onto it and, as the plane was fly ing off, SNake climbed into the plane. "Good job, Solid Snake" said the pilot through the speakers. Snake laid down and rested until he arrived at the headquarters...


	4. California Briefing

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

Snake laid down and rested until he arrived at the headquarters...

Snake was tired. He actually caught himself dozing off in the Zezro 94. That is, until the loudspeaker blared a voice. "Heading into unit "Philanthropy, headquarters," the pilot notified. Snake got up and entered the changing room. He slipped out of his sneaking suit and detached all of his equipment. Snake then pulled some blue jeans up and shoved on a black t-shirt. He walked out of the changing room and awaited arrival in the landing area. Soon after, he found himself walking down the loading ramp and onto the ground. Snake walked into the "abandoned" building that served as Philanthropy's headquarters and was greeted by Otacon. "Hey, Hal." "Hey, Snake -- er, Dave," Otacon replied. Snake then yanked the codec module out of his ear and tossed it on the counter near Otacon. "Sorry to cut our social meeting short, but I've got to go to bed," Snake drew out. "You've been pretty tired lately. Why? Does it have to do with FoxDie?" "...I don't know." Snake hadn't thought of that. Maybe this was the calm before the storm. But right now, all Snake could think about was sleeping. "See you later, Otacon." "Alright. Sleep well, Snake! You'll need it!" Otacon returned when Snake pushed the door open to his bedroom. Snake fell on top of the bed and went fast asleep...

_Leaves scatter all around, the wind being harsh. Lightning strikes in the distance. Wolves are heard. A man is standing in the middle of a jungle-like area, brandishing a MK-22 "Hush Puppy" tranquilizer gun. He walks through this cold night, unaware of his destiny. He hears a jingle, similar to that of combat boots. Instinctively, the man draws his MK-22 around to face the lone figure. All Snake could see was a Colt Single Action Army, being held by a shadowy arm. The MK-22-wielding soul heard a gun fire. The man, if indeed man he is, chuckles. Then, all is dark. _

"Agh!" Snake screamed as he awakened. Snake heartbeat was rushing very quickly, his blood pressure rising. Soon after, Otacon rushes in.

"Snake! Are you all right? I thought someone wa going to kill you!" Otacon burst out in concern. "This dream, I..." Snake began. _Never mind. It was just a dream. Nothing to worry about_. "I'll bore you later. I'm going back to bed." Snake laid back and closed his eyes once more.

---

Snake awoke to the smell of fresh food cooking. _Smells like eggs. Otacon's probably making breakfast for me_. Snake straightened his slept-in clothes and walked out of the half-open door. Snake saw Otacon cheerfully making eggs on a Teflon skillet at the stove. Otacon noticed Snake and greeted him. "Good morning, Snake! Or should I say, 'Good evening?" Otacon taunted. Snake looked at the wall clock. It was twenty-five minutes past six o'clock. "Good evening would suffice." Snake returned to Otacon. Snake sat down at a stool next to the counter and drooped his head. "You look beat," Otacon mentioned. "Yeah," answered Snake. "Why did you wake up like that earlier?" asked a concerned Otacon. "Had a stupid dream. Anyway, you cooking bacon with that?" "Yeah. I'll put some on your plate."

Thirty minutes, and three bacon strips and two eggs later, Snake asked "So, what's our next mission?" "Oh, it's in California this time. California might be too much heat for an Alaska-boy like you though, huh?" Otacon teased. Snake elbowed Otacon in the arm playfully, but to Otacon it felt like a ton of bricks just smacked his arm. "Hey, ouch..." "So, California eh? What's the situation over there?" Otacon smiled. "There's a group of rogue soldiers who are starting to make their own Metal Gear project." "How far into development are they?" "Oh, they've got the basic design completed. It's about twenty-four-and-a-half feet tall, and features some tough armor. It's armed with a missile launcher as well as dual machine XM8-force machine guns." "Sounds like it has quite the BB guns on it." Snake sarcastically remarked. "_Heat-seeking_ missiles." Otacon rephrased. "And there's the cherry on top." "It's an air base, which means it is basically a flying base. Of course, it must dock for fuel. This is how we will intercept; we will deploy you at the insertion point near the docking point. You will sneak on-board and destroy Metal Gear. "Alright," Snake said, "Seems simple enough." "The missions in eight days. Be sure to rest up before then." And so Snake walked off, into the living room...


	5. Insertion Point: California

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

"The mission's in eight days. Be sure to rest up before then." And so Snake walked off, into the living room...

Snake was once again found in the Zezro 94, what seemed to be their official air transport now. He was smoking a pack of "Lucky Strikes" cigarettes. The deployment assistant was choking from the clouds of smoke that filled the room as if gas were leaking. Snake, of course, didn't notice much of this – either that or he didn't care – and he got up and fastened his breath mask on his face. The deployment assistant was fastening his parachute onto Snake's back – which Snake then double-checked, knowing the assistant probably wanted to get him back for smoking in a closed-off room – and Snake walked to the up-drawn loading ramp. "ETA one minute," came that voice over the loudspeaker. Snake, after standing for that minute, walked onto the now-lowering loading ramp and threw himself off into the depths below him...

The wind whipped across Snake's equipment very harshly. Snake was surprised none of it dropped. Then, Snake pulled the release thread and exploding out of the pack attached to his back was the parachute – a green-and-white striped air safety device. Snake slowly floated down to the green earth beneath him. Snake ripped off his breath mask and tossed it aside, followed by the now-useless parachute-deployment backpack, and finally the sfaety cartridge attached to his chest. Snake ran to a nearby hill and bent down to one knee. "Otacon, this is Snake. Arrived at insertion point." "Alright Snake. Your objective...as last time, destroy Metal Gear. When you enter the air-base, your Soliton radar will pick up the area's surroundings – courtesy of myself," Otacon said very cocky. "Your equipment is exactly the same as last time, except now you have a heavily-explosive weapon...the RGB6 grenade launcher." Otacon said with a hint of reassurance in his voice. "It won't be like last time, and no weapons of high caliber. Of course, you still have a handgun – except this time, it's a USP." Otacon said. "The USP comes in two types the 9mm and a .45. The one you have is a .45, light-equipped and an LAM (Laser Aiming Module)," Otacon went on. You have three extra fifteen-round clips for it, but I'd suggest you use it wisely. It also has a suppressor." "Good, I don't think the soldiers would just keep drinking their tea if I was blasting my way through the place," Snake explained. "And laser-sighting is always a good help." "Yeah..." Otacon agreed. "So, how am I going to escape?" Snake queried. "Well, we have anothr parachute packed into the same area that has your RGB6. Use it to extricate yourself." Otacon explained. "I see. So two HALOs in one mission, huh?" "I'm afraid so," Otacon said. "I also packed some XE-N2 charges in with your equipment – you know, the spherical explosives I dropped before the mission back in Arkansas?" "Yeah?" "Well, use those charges, coupled with the RGB6, and you should have enough firepower for Metal Gear. To use them, squeeze the exterior and in five seconds, it will excrete a very adhesive layer of an almost slime-like substance. It attaches to virtually any surface. While the explosive is impressive, it is not as powerful as, say, C4. And the good thing is, it's small enough to throw effectively at enemy personell, though I wouldn't reccommend it." "Right. So I squeeze them, they get sticky, and it blows up...how?" Snake questioned. "Just push the button on the remote supplied wih them. It works for all that are squeezed within a distance of ten meters." Otacon explained. "Alright. Moving on to docking point..."


	6. Of terror and suspense

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

"Alright. Moving on to docking point..."

Snake walked past a few buildings -- presumably cafes and the like – but otherwise found no trouble advancing to the docking point. The "docking point" was a small area that was basically an unknown landing pad, with what seemed to be a fuel-supplying station nearby the port. As far as Snake could tell, there were three men inside – all of them wearing military uniforms. Two of the three soldiers were smoking; the other one was polishing what appeared to be a sawed-off shotgun. Snake snuck near the glass window in the front of the fuel station. Snake could hear voices that were muffled but well enough to hear. "...So then I give this kid a smack, and he starts crying! I mean, it's his first day and he DESTROYS the lower hold ramp! I mean, just anybody could get through the son of a bitch!" the soldier complained. "Yeah, but think about it; he's a rookie. Rookies don't know anything!" the second smoking soldier replied. The man polishing the sawed-off shotgun stood up. "I won't let anyone near the base." The soldier then cocks the pump-action shotgun. "Nor will Xelv here."

**Zidel** _(Clint Eastwood)_

He raises up the sawed-off weapon. "I'm sure you won't, Zidel." Snake noticed the soldier was wearing a balaclava, if you could call it that; the black face mask he was wearing only had openings for his noise and mouth. _How could he see through that...? _Snake then heard a loud noise coming from the east. Snake dived behind the opposing wall and peeked out to what the noise was. The source of the noise was a huge aircraft, resembling a huge airfighter. It looked 35-40 times the size of a normal airfighter, and had a huge lower hold – probably where the Metal Gear was stored. Then, Snake heard a very loud voice, probably from the exterior speakers of the aircraft. "Come on out, everyone! Secure the area, because this could take up to five hours to completely refuel!" _Damn..._ Snake cursed mentally. Soon after, Snake saw many, many troops exit the aircraft, all with their rifles drawn and ready. The rifles looked like XM8s, all suppressed and with laser-sighting. It looked like it was even equipped with a lume flashlight under the barrel as well. Snake placed two fingers under his ear and called Otaon.

"Otacon, I'm in trouble. I'm at the docking point, but it looks like most, if not all of the soldiers are extracting themselves from the air base. Their commander said it would probably take five hours to refuel, too," Snake reported. "What should I do?" "Hmm...I don't know, Snake. That one's up to you." Otacon unhelpfully said. "Thanks," came from an angry Snake. Snake shut off his codec and stalked around the wall and examined more closely. Snake could see the hole the soldiers were talking about. Thinking carefully, Snake pulled out one of the explosive spheres. He squeezed it slightly and tossed it as far as he could in the opposite direction of the air-base. Snake pushed the button on the remote. Nothing. Probably due to the limited range. But a persistent Snake kept pressing the button and finally, the sphere exploded into a sparkly show of red, green, and blue flames. The explosion did some damage to the ground beneath it as well – ten inches deep of the ground was blown away. As expected, every soldier pointed their rifle toward the explosion and ran off. Snake took his chance and rushed over to the hole in the bottom of the air-base. Snake pulled himself up, into the chambers of the giant, aerodynamic base.

"Hmm..." said Zidel, watching Snake enter the base. "This could be fun. An agent sent to stop us...?" Zidel laughed. "I won't report him just yet. Instead, I'll have my fun with him...and then he can be thrown 40,000 feet down when I blast him away! Ha ha ha!"

Snake examined his new surroundings. Snake heard a slight beep on the Soliton radar, signifying Otacon had been correct about having the schematics to the base. Snake decided to call Otacon.

"This is Snake. I've managed a way into the base." "Were you seen?" Otacon asked. "No, I don't think so," Snake answered. "Anyway, enter the lower hold. It should be down the next turn, the last door on the right. Behind this door, you'll find a chute. Slide down into it, and you should end up in the hold where Metal Gear is stored. From there..." Otacon continued, explaining key structural point to the Metal Gear model, where to set the explosives, where the shoot with the RGB6, and other miscellaneous facts. "...And when you're done, be sure to activate the bombs. Under any circumstances, do NOT set them off while you are still inside." "Gotcha," Snake answered before turning his codec off. Snake descended into the deserted hallway, looking around for enemy sentries along the way. Oddly enough, it seemed as if no one was here..._Probably all still dazzled by my little surprise..._ Snake thought. Snake proiceeded down the very long hallway and finally reach the end of the hall. Snake pushed open the steel door to the right and, sure enough, there was a large chute leading down into the holds below. Tucking his legs inside, Snake fell into the darkness below him...

Snake fell for a while. After what seemed an eternity, Snake landed very hard on his bottom. "Agh..." let out a slightly hurt Snake. Then, finally noticing the huge monstrosity before him, Snake stepped back. It was a huge war machine, exactly as Otacon described. Only it was bigger. The heat-seeking missiles that were loaded on its back were ready, the XM8-force machine guns were loaded, and it seemed as if it had been operational for a short while before Snake arrived. Death was upon the world if Snake did not stop this terror...

_Swoosh_.

Snake looked around to the chute, raising his silenced USP and cocking it. No one was there. Snake heard footsteps.

_Clap_,_ clap_,_ clap_...

Snake looked at the figure that walked out from behind the ar machine's leg.

It was Zidel.


	7. Help from a friend

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

_Clap_,_ clap_,_ clap_...

Snake looked at the figure that walked out from behind the war machine's leg.

It was Zidel.

Snake pointed his gun at the shotgun-wielding man. "Excellent...you've managed to infiltrate our base..." "Who are you?" demanded Snake. "I am Zidel Vordilus, man of many words...and many rounds..." Zidel pointed to his shotgun. It looked like it was cocked and loaded. He then pointed it at Snake. Snake held his ground with the USP. "Hmm...what is that gun...? A USP? Ha ha ha!" Zidel seemed like he had a good laugh. "This...is a semi-automatic shotgun. Two barrels, which I took the liberty of shortening..." Zidel said. "The range is short, but its power more than makes up for it, I assure you..." Zidel glanced around, still keeping his weapon trained on Snake. "I was born in Alaska, raised in California. Alaska was...too cold, might you say? But California was my calling..." Zidel stared back at Snake. "I joined the U.S. Navy when I was eighteen, trying to make a dream come true, to work for the U.S...but the U.S. screwed me over. I was not the only one who felt like this. Others did as well. So, we banded together and made our own little group...a group that believes in freedom and opportunity. And Metal Gear LEX will accomplish our goal, by desttroying the U.S. Forces! We will take over and rule! Other will be crushed, destroyed if they question our rule! And then...oh, and then...we'll combat other countries. Our rule will not be denied." Zidel then said, "Let us fight, Snake. Let us fight, and see which cause is for the better!" Zidel then back flipped and rolled sideways behind Metal Gear's leg. Snake pointed the USP at the area in which Zidel disappeared. Snake took some cover of his own behind a few barrels. "No one will hear your death, Snake! This room is soundproofed!" Snake took this knowledge to his advantage. But then, Snake heard a shotgun blow away a part of the floor, revealing some of the port stone beneath it. Snake jumped out with his USP at the ready, pointed at Zidel's hiding area. Zidel, however, was on the other side and was blasting shotgun shells at Snake. Snake then took his cover back and unloaded his clip toward Zidel through the side. As expected, two bullets shot through Zidel's side. "Ahh!" Zidel exclaimed as the bullets penetrated his side. "Agh...maybe this is battle for another time..." Snake heard two shotgun blast and the sound of someone squeezing through the floor. _Damn...he's outside. He'll tell everyone I'm here..._ Snake, wanting to destroy Metal Gear as soon as possible, drew out the RGB6 and pointed it at the key areas Otacon had mentioned. He pulled the trigger and _blam_, a large grenade shot out of the barrel of the grenade launcher. Snake continued to do this until every key area was destroyed. Snake noted that just the RGB6 alone couldn't completely destroy it. So, he drew out twenty of the twenty-nine charges he had remaining. Snake squeezed them one by one and threw them on areas still structured. Snake then climbed out of the hole Zidel had made for himself to escape and called Otacon.

"Otacon, I've destroyed main areas of Metal Gear and have placed the charges onto the remaining areas still structural." Snake reported. "Were you spotted?" Otacon queried. "You could say that," Snake replied. "Some freak wearing a black mask and a semi-automatic shotgun wanted me dead. I managed to shoot him twice in the side but he escaped." "Weird...anyway, the Zezro 94 is coming over there now. It'll be there in ten minutes. Keep yourself hidden until then." "Alright. I'm kind of glad I don't have to HALO jump again 'til next mission," Snake said. "See you later," Otacon said before turning off his codec.

Snake hid behind the landing prongs of the air-base for eight minutes. The, Snake heard the sound of an airfighter coming. Snake instinctively ran forward, but was seen by the enemy soldiers.

"Who's that?" many yelled. All of them had their XM8 assault rifles pointed at Snake. "Come quietly and we won't kill you," the soldier in front said. The aircraft was drawing some attention of its own as well, and some were trained on it rather than the lone mercenary. Snake then nodded to the airplane. Suddenly, the airfighter's machine guns whirred to life and started pelting down round upon round into the opposing soldiers, careful not to hit Snake. On first hit many of them died, but the ones still alive were pelting the aircraft with their own gunfire. In the midst of all the madness, they seemed to have forgotten about Snake. After the last of them were killed, Snake waved to be let onto the Zezro 94. It docked and Snake climbed into the loading area.

"Nice work," Snake complemented to the pilot. "Anytime," returned the man in the pilot seat. Snake proceeded to lying down on the cot in the deployment room...


	8. Destruction and intervention

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

"Nice work," Snake complemented to the pilot. "Anytime," returned the man in the pilot seat. Snake proceeded to lying down on the cot in the deployment room...

Snake returned to the temporary Philanthropy headquarters located in a rural town of California in a few hours. Snake awoke to the sound of a loud docking noise. He rubbed his eyes and stood upright. The deployment assistant lowered the loading ramp. Snake walked down the loading ramp and looked forward to the old house that served as their "headquarters." The Zezro 94 flew off into the dusky sky and left Snake behind at his sanctuary...

"Hey Otacon," Snake said as he walked through the door and started toward the changing room to remove his infiltration gear. "Hey Sna --" Otacon started, but was interrupted by a door slam. "Figures..." Otacon muttered.

Snake was changing his clothes in the changing room. Just as he was taking his sneaking suit top off, he discovered a circular radar-like sphere. It was shaped like a globe, and the exterior showed a few detailed maps of areas Snake was familiar with, namely the docking point, and...the headquarters. Snake ran out of the changing room without bothering to put his sneaking suit top back on and showed Otacon.

"Otacon!" "What is it, Snake?" Otacon answered. "It's this," Snake said, handing over the radar-sphere. "What's this?" "I don't know. I found it in my sneaking suit, around my collar." "Hmm...that's weird...I'll study up on it." Otacon answered as he stood up and went to the computer room.

Five hours later, and a whole dinner later, Otacon emerged from his computer chamber with the sphere in hand. "Snake," Otacon said, "I've found out what this is." "What?" Snake returned. "It's a radar transmitter. I've deactivated it for now, but it was relaying your electronic field as a beacon linked to a remote computer outlet. It was also using a signal from something else; the Zezro 94. Before I deactivated it, I set the beacon to be set to the bed in your bedroom. We can activate it safely now." Snake scratched his mullet. "Alright, turn it on. But I want it off if anything happens." "Alright, alright." Otacon turned on the radar transmitter. It showed the beacon linked to Snake in the bedroom of the headquarters, and the Zezro 94. It was flying the skies of California, near the Philanthropy headquarters. After a half-hour of watching movement of the Zezro 94, Snake saw some red dot blips on the radar. They were traveling at a fast rate toward the airfighter.

"Otacon!" Snake said in a loud voice. Otacon looked down upon the radar with a start. "What are those?" Otacon asked. "I don't know for sure, but it looks like missiles." "Damn...! We have to warn them!" Snake reached for the the codec, put it in his ear, and held two fingers under his ear. "Z 94! There are missiles heading your way! I repeat, there are missiles heading your way!" An answer came through into Snake's ear. "Understood. Performing evasive maneuvers," replied the pilot's voice. After watching the radar, showing the pilot's tactic, Snake saw an amazing maneuver performed by the pilot. The missiles, three of them to be exact, were spreading and closing the distance between them and the airfighter. The two missiles on the outside were spreading out, and as they were about to hit the plane, the plane back flipped in mid-air and behind the middle missile. The middle missile exploded after a three-second delay, which Snake supposed was the airfighter's machine guns. The Zezro 94 rolled sideways and then back into position. "This is Z 94, we've managed to destroy the missiles!" "Great job!" Snake exclaimed.

"Enjoy your victory while it lasts, Snake," came a strange, familiar voice through his codec. "Was that you, Z 94?" Snake asked. "Was that who, Solid Snake?" replied the pilot. "Don't be dumb. I'm directly linked to you, Snake." replied the strange voice again. Snake set his open channel to a private one with the unknown entity. "Who is this?" "My, you've already forgotten me?" replied the voice. "Semi-automatic shotgun-wielding maniac? Zidel Vordilus?" "Oh, you," Snake answered. "I hoped you got shredded up by machine gun fire." "Not all of us can be that lucky, Snake. No, I am sending you a gift. I hope you like it..." Snake looked at the radar-sphere and saw five missiles heading toward his beacon. Snake hastily switched off his codec and shook Otacon. "Otacon! Missiles are heading this way!" "Wha-wha?" "No time for questions! Let's go!" Snake and Otacon stood up and ran out of the house after grabbing the radar-transmitter. Snake and Otacon ran as far and as fast as they possibly could, before they saw the terrible missiles raining down upon the rural town. Snake and Otacon were just outside the blast radius when the missiles exploded on impact. "Damn..." Snake said.

"They – destroyed everything," Otacon sadly said. "Don't you just love happy endings, Snake?" came Zidel's voice through the codec in Snake's ear. "You bastard!" Snake exclaimed. "This is a town full of people!" "Yes, I know. This is the power of the Metal Gear Zenrid – It will be your doom, Snake. The missiles were just a side-show attraction." "I will stop you," Snake said. "Well, that is humorous. I'm sure your friend will be able to find me by tracing the call. I invite you to our party, Snake. Be sure to bring party hats," Zidel said before cutting the call. Snake looked to Otacon. Otacon nodded.


	9. Rapidity

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

Snake once again found himself suited up for another mission. This time he was in the Arizona Desert, where Zidel had fled to after Snake's successful infiltration of the California air-base mission. Snake wasn't even sure that the Metal Gear model would be with Zidel, but he was their only lead to Metal Gear Zenrid.

The hot desert air surrounded Snake like an inferno in the desert, and with the very tight sneaking suit clasped to his body, he was sweating profusely. Snake had to trek across the desert for three hours, because the Zezro 94 couldn't fly across the desert and alert Zidel with what outpost he had. Snake literally thought he was going to die under the sun, until he saw the glimmering steel building in the distance. It was like striking gold in your backyard. Snake bent down and called Otacon via codec.

"Otacon, I've arrived at the research outpost," Snake reported. "It sure took long enough," Otacon answered. "Oh, I'm sorry. Who knew deserts were very, very hot and made people sluggish?" "Okay, I'm sorry. The important thing is you're there." Otacon paused. "Snake, there's another monitoring our transmission. It can only be Zidel around there. I've switched the encryption protocol for our burst transmission. For a while, we'll have safe communications." "Alright. Moving on to objectives," Snake said before turning off his codec. Snake stood up and trekked on. It wasn't even ten seconds before someone else contacted him again. "Hello, Snake. Gun cameras are mounted above the decking plate." The voice was not of Zidel's but instead a strongly familiar voice. "Look ahead." "Who is this?" Snake questioned. "Let's just say I'm one of your fans." The call ended with that.

Snake looked concerned after the mysterious call. After a moment's pause, Snake called Otacon. "What's up, Snake?" "Got a pretty freaky call just now." "Yeah, I was just about to contact you." Otacon returned. "Can you identify where the call originated?" Snake queried. "I already tried, but he's not using the same transmission we are." Snake had only heard a situation similar to this once before, and then it turned out to be Gray Fox. "Weird...Anyway, we'll figure it out later. Continuing the mission." Snake turned off his codec.

Taking this new knowledge to his advantage, Snake looked ahead to the decking plate of the outpost and saw three barrels poking out of the top of the outpost, aimed downwards. It was good Snake received this information when he did, otherwise he would have been shot down by the hidden threat. It was almost as if someone were monitoring his movements. Disregarding that thought for the moment, Snake snuck under the armed cameras' blind spots and proceeded forward. Snake came face-to-face with a sealed-off steel door. Snake set the laser sighting of his USP pistol onto the lock of the door and the silenced gunshot was followed by a bullet which then destroyed the lock. Snake reached his hand onto the doorknob and turned it. He aimed his weapon forward and cautiously walked forward. It was not even five seconds before an assault rifle met with Snake temporal lobe. Snake froze in place and looked sideways. He saw a gruff man, presumably in his fourties, and sporting an entirely scarred, savaged, and muscle-lesioned arm. "Who are you?" asked the strange man. Snake was silent. Snake heard the cocking of the weapon after a one-second delay. ."I'll only ask one more time," said the troubled, scarred voice, "Who are you?" Snake then took this opportunity to feint. "I'm --" Snake began, before he dropped his USP and grabbed the man's assault rifle, ripping it downward and cycling it to firing position, and pointed it at the man's head. "Who are you?" Snake returned the man's question. "Such skill...when the boss explained your capability, I'd never have imagined someone taking an assault rifle from ME, the great rapid-fire master." "And your name?" Snake asked. "I am Troubled Hand, master of assault rifles."

_**Troubled Hand **(Kurt Russell)_

"You know, scars are very powerful; they tell time, vitality, inner strength, willpower, and experience. This arm is a constant reminder of the discipline I was submerged in, courtesy of my father. Yes, he was a very abusive father, took everything from me...my mother, my brother, and my sisters...but in the end, while I do not appreciate him as a father, I appreciate him as an excellent motivator. He taught me that you cannot love, trust, put faith in, or expect anything from anyone around you, because one day they'll perish and you'll be left only with sorrow." Snake could relate to some degree with the man. Snake sometimes wondered about Meryl, his one and only true love, stuck in New York, where their main headquarters for Philanthropy were. He hadn't seen her in a few months, and Snake was feeling heartsick for her. But shaking off these thoughts, Snake looked directly at the man's face. Snake was just about to knock the man out, but just as Snake was about to execute this maneuiver, Troubled Hand already had prepared a TMP machine pistol in Snake's face. Snake paused. This was getting nowhere. Snake decidedly elbowed the man's arm carrying the TMP hard and slammed the butt of the assault rifle into Hand's neck. Hand stumbled for a second, then fell face-forward into the ground.

Snake picked up the TMP the man had dropped and pocketed it, as well as ammo for the new weapon. Moving on, Snake walked forward into the main area of the base...


	10. Love and Worry

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

Snake picked up the TMP the man had dropped and pocketed it, as well as ammo for the new weapon. Moving on, Snake walked forward into the main area of the base...

Snake walked on into the main, general area of the outpost for a while, lasting about twenty minutes. It seems Zidel had hired a small mercenary group, because there were a few sentries patrolling the perimeter. The sentries were easy to evade, even easier than most he had encountered, but they still posed a threat.

After twenty minutes, Snake heard a ringing sensation in his ear. He placed two fingers underneath his ear and pressed slightly. "This is Snake." Then the same, strongly familiar voice came through into Snake's head. "Snake, there's information to be revealed beneath the air lock in the B2 loading chamber." Snake looked puzzled. "Be there and you'll find love and worry." A metallic static noise indicated that the entity was no longer in contact with Snake. Snake called Otacon soon after.

"Otacon, this is Snake. I got another strange call. Do you think it's...?" Snake began. "It could be anything. Keep your guard up," Otacon said. Snake turned off his codec and moved ahead, toward the cargo elevator. Soon, Snake found it.

Snake stood in front of it and pressed the button to call the elevator. After a four-second delay, Snake walked forward into the elevator, pressing the "B2" button.

After a little while, the elevator doors flew open. Snake, at the ready, had drawn his USP and walked forward. Just then, Snake heard a light tap of metal in the next room. Snake walked ahead, slightly opening the door. To his surprise, Meryl was standing there in the middle of what appeared to be a testing room. She was reloading a USP, in urban camo clothing.

This was just too much for Snake. Why was Meryl here? How did she get here? Who told her to come here? Overwhelmed, and without thinking, Snake practically screamed, "Meryl! What are you doing here?" Meryl lookede very startled at first, almost aiming at Snake with her USP, and saying, "Oh...you scared me." Snake cut right to the point. "Why are you here?" "I was sent here by Otacon, did he not tell you?" Snake had a few choice words for Otacon. "No, he didn't. You need to leave," Snake finished bluntly. "I was just trying to help...I love you, you know." Snake always loved to hear those words from her voice. "I love you too," Snake said, "but I can't let you get hurt." "Hey, just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I'm defenseless." Snake knew his all too well. "I know..." Just then, however, Snake heard a loud bang from the ceiling. Snake drew his USP. Snake glanced up without moving his head to see a large hole, looking as if it were cut by a very sharp blade. Just when Snake looked back to Meryl, he found that a slender, muscular, exoskeleton-bearing figure was holding a large Japanese katana to the soft flesh of Meryl's neck. A voice that was now confirmed to be the entity's said, "Snake, it's been a while." The strange being could only be Gray Fox. But how could he still be alive...? But then, the ninja placed a finger on its mask and pressed down on the plate. The steel illusion disappeared and showed a glass veil that revealed the being's face. Sadly, it was not Frank Jaegar's. It was some woman he had never seen before.

"So, Liquid Snake...we meet again," the mysterious woman said. "Again?" Snake replied. "You do not remember me? I joined with you before that Big Shell incident. I was sent to find your remains. You don't remember me?" Snake was very confused. Liquid? What was going on? What did she want with Liquid? "Sorry, but I'm not Liquid." Snake cocked his USP. "Let her go." Snake almost cried because he feared for Meryl so much. Snake nodded to Meryl. "Oh, her? Fine..." She lowered her blade and pushed her forward. Just as Snake caught Meryl in his arms as she flew toward him, the ninja apparently left, because when Snake looked back to her location, she was nowhere in sight. Snake grasped Meryl tightly, closing his eyes. Finally, after a while, he let her go. "Follow me," Snake said. "Alright," came from a still-shaken Meryl.

Snake walked on, unsure about everything...Troubled Hand, Meryl, that mysterious woman...it was all too much.

Snake then called the frequency of the mysterious call. Not surprisingly, there was no immediate answer. But, a few minutes after Snake had called, an entity said "You have found me; I am worry, I am forgotten. But search deeper, and you'll find the true meaning of everything." The call was cut at that point.

Snake then walked up to the elevator and, when inside, he pushed the button leading to the first floor. As they were waiting, the elevator stopped dead. Then, the escape hatch at the elevator ceiling opened. Snake drew his USP and pointed it at the entity, the best he could in a very dark elevator interior. Snake's and Meryl's USPs laser sighting met with a man's scarred face.

It was Troubled Hand. And he had dual TMPs aimed at both Snake and Meryl.


	11. Tempting a snake

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

As they were waiting, the elevator stopped dead. Then, the escape hatch at the elevator ceiling opened. Snake drew his USP and pointed it at the entity, the best he could in a very dark elevator interior. Snake's and Meryl's USPs laser sighting met with a man's scarred face.

It was Troubled Hand. And he had dual TMPs aimed at both Snake and Meryl.

"You'll be wanting to come with me," Hand said. Snake growled at him and said "No chance." "Too bad..." Hand said before pushing a button on the remote he held in his hand between his TMP. Soon, the entire elevator filled with sleeping gas. Coughing, Snake said "Sleeping gas...damn..." And he and Meryl both fell asleep.

Snake awoke strapped to a steel, revolving bed. _Not this again..._ Snake thought. A laugh interrupted his train of thought. "Well, well...it seems the Snake is too hungry for his own good..." said Zidel, wielding a sawed-off shotgun, pointed at Snake's head, between his eyes. "You?" "Yes, me..." said Zidel, "Troubled Hand was so gracious to bring you to me...I had ordered him to test your abilities, and then incapacitate you to bring you to me. He didn't test your abilities all that well...but he did a fine job on incapacitating you." Snake suddenly realized Meryl was nowhere to be seen. Horrible memories flooded back to Snake...but they were not his own.

_Snake was standing in the middle of a field of flowers...white, beautiful flowers. Snake was pointing a Patriot at a woman dressed in a buttoned-down white uniform. "There's only room for one Snake...and one Boss..." Snake shot a bullet from the Patriot, and then all stopped. _

Snake expected to remember things about Meryl, but instead he remembered shooting some woman in a white uniform. But before Snake could read too much into this, Zidel said "Hand! Come in here!" Troubled Hand walked forward into the torture chamber. "I really must go...I truly am sorry." Zidel smirked before he left. Troubled Hnd stepped up to Snake"Sorry, but no electrical shocks this time." Hand pointed his TMP at Snake's knee cap and shot just below it. Snake screamed in pain. Then, as if that weren't enough, Hand shot Snake again in the shoulder. Again, Snake showed his pain. Then, Hand started beating Snake with a baton in various areas.

This went on for a while. Snake had grown weary from multiple strikes to his body. Snake found that forty-five minutes of persistent torture had passed in the time he had awakened.

"Snake...you truly are a worthy subject." Hand holstered his TMP and his baton. "That's enough for now...take him aeway." Hand gestured to the sentries waiting behind a cell door. "Come with me," said the soldier to the left. Snake would've escaped then were it not for pain and fatigue.

Meryl was lying on some bed in a dark room. She awoke to some dried blood on her forehead. Wiping this off, she shot up. She couldn't see much besides the silhouette of a few bottles on a small table beside her. There was an industrial-steel door preventing her escape. Meryl stood up and turned the doorknob, but, as expected, it did not budge. Sitting down on the old bed, she looked into space.

Snake looked around his new surroundings. It was quite the suite, alright. There was blood on the floor in a yellow-stained room that smelled of rotten meat. The stench was horrible. There were rats and other vermin everywhere. Snake could see through the see-through glass on the wall. Snake punched the wall as hard as he could. It did not even shake. Slumping on the floor, because there was a lack of any furtniturte in his cell, Snake felt his ear. His codec was still there.

"Otacon," Snake said. "Snake? Oh good, I was starting to worry about you..." "I've been captured by the enemy." "What?" "Long story. I'll explain later. I was tortured by some maniac who calls himself Troubled Hand. Right after I found out that Meryl was here." "Listen, Snake --" "No, you listen." Snake interrupted. "You could've got her killed." "She's a soldier, Snake..." "I don't care. You should have told me." Otacon sighed. "I'm sorry, Snake. I just wanted to make sure you were okay..." "Well, whatever. I need a way out of here." "How well are the walls protected. Pretty good. Looks like bulletproof glass, and I can't break it. Doesn't look like anybody's here, either." "Well, what about a door?" Snake looked around. He saw an industrial steel door. It was most likely locked, but Snake tried the knob. He found the expected result. "...Locked." "I'm not sure, then, Snake. But you need to find a way out of there and find Metal Gear!" "Alright." Snake turned off the codec.

_Hello all, this is an author's note. Sorry for the extremely late update. I've been working in real life, and on other web sites than this one and haven't had much chamnce to work on my fan fiction. But here I go, and I'm back. Enjoy! _


	12. Oregon

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FANFICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FANFICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

**ALSO, THIS PARTICULAR ENTRY IN THIS FAN FICTION IS AFFILIATED WITH DARK SPLOOSH'S OF "METAL GEAR SOLID 4: DEAD HEAVEN" WITH HIS PERMISSION. THIS DESCRIBES THE MISSION SNAKE SPOKE BRIEFLY WITH MEI LING ABOUT IN THE PROLOGUE OF DARK SPLOOSH'S FANFICTION AS STATED ABOVE, ABOUT THE "OREGON METAL GEAR DATA COLLECTION." THIS ENTRY DESCRIBES THE DETAILS OF THAT MISSION AND HOPEFULLY SHEDS NEW LIGHT ON THE PLOT OF DARK SPLOOSH'S PRESENTATION OF HIS OWN VERSION OF MGS4. **

Solid Snake awoke to the sound of a car starting outisde. Unwillingly awakening, he stumbles out of bed and looks outside. Oh, it's just Otacon. But Otacon wasn't driving off, just staying in the car. Snake ran outside from the front door and went to Otacon.

"Otacon, where are you going"

Otacon replied, sitting in the driver's seat, "Nowhere. Just starting up the car so the glove compartment can unlock so I can get my codec.

"You left it in there?" Snake questioned condescendingly.

"Yeah," Otacon replied, unfazed. He wiped the crusted mucus from under his eyes. Then Snake realized it was 6:30 A.M., and the sun had only barely risen over the clouds.

"I was just checking, Otacon" Snake said finally. Turning tail, Snake heard Otacon's voice.

"Snake!"

Snake reluctantly turned his head, his eyes closed. "What?"

"Your next...assignment..."

Snake sighed. He hadn't been on an assignment since he defeated Zidel and ended the terrorist threat. Of course, a lot more has happened since then...the Tanker, the Big Shell...everything.

--

Over the next four hours, Snake found himself on Philanthropy's official new aircraft, flying to Oregon to steal some information regarding a few new Metal Gear models, the Metal Gears themselves being shrouded in mysery, the specs are needed for analysis. The info was to be found in the most strange of coincidences -- an old warehouse that no one had visited in twenty years. It was probably very rickety, rusty, and falling apart. Snake shook his head slipped on the last of his sneaking suit.

"ETA one hour. I hope you're already prepped, Snake."

Snake shook his head again upon hearing the new pilot's voice. While Snake never knew Jonathan, the Zezro 94's old pilot, he did fly him to many mission sites and Snake had grown what he called respect to the die-hard pilot. Dismissing these thoughts, Snake laid back and dozed off.

About ten minutes before ETA, the speaker blared the voice of the new guy.

"Solid Snake, if you're not prepped for the HALO jump yet, I suggest you get ready.

Wait, wait. HALO jump? In Oregon? He was going to get to the bottom of this.

"Otacon," Snake said into the codec in his ear.

"Oh, Snake, hello. You drop yet?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Snake said grimly, yet at the same time, urgently.

"Oh, listen, sorry Snake...but we can't touch the plane down on Oregon soil."

"Why?"

"Because Snake, we're not authorized to. And even if we did ignore that fact and land, don't you think people would find it funny if a military airfighter touched down in the city outskirts?"

"Wouldn't it be equally crazy to see a soldier touching down by some old warehouse, dropping from a military plane in the sky with a parachute?" Snake countered almost immediately.

"Well, touche Snake. But it's easier on the plane's fuel and also so we can go right in and get right out."

"...How?" Snake questioned, confused.

"You'l find out soon enough," Otacon said playfully, "just finish your mission quickly so you can get back and relax."

"Yeah, sounds good," Snake said before turning his codec off to fully equip himself with the HALO jump gear. He didn't like HALO jumps at all, but he had no choice it would seem. And, almost as if on cue, the pilot's voice burst through the speakers.

"One minute ETA, Snake. Get ready to jump."

Snake took a deep breath, walked to the loading ramp and watched it fold down to the metallic floor of the plane. This was it.

Snake flung himself off into the depths of the sky he was raised into, silently thanking the mask that allowed him to breathe. The reason Snake disliked HALO jumps was because of the nerve tension he always got. It was almost too much for him. Just too adrenaline-pumping.

After Snake had touched down near the warehouse, in the street in front of it to be exact, he gathered up his parachute and tossed it between two buildings, along with his other HALO jump gear. Stealthily hustling to the front dobule doors of the rusty, rickety, worn-out warehouse, Snake pulled at the door. As expected, it did not budge. Snake looked around, just to make sure no one was aware of his presence...at least not yet. When Snake assured himself that the coast was clear, he drew his silenced USP and shot through the red-rusted doorknob, the lock obviously falling the ground to the other side. And what a sight Snake saw.

The entire warehouse was your typical rusty, old warehouse. And in the daylight, it truly seemed pathetic. The walls were what used to be steel, but now they like rusty aluminum due to the years of unmaintenanced aging to the walls. There were rodents everywhere; snakes, rats, mice, and maybe a few bats that Snake disturbed in his newfound presence. The massive, rusty, corroded ceiling had not seen anyone under it in twenty years, and a few beams of rusted steel hung below the ceiling. Carefully advancing, Snake looked more closely at his surroundings. To his right were some wooden staircases Snake did not at all trust, and to the north was nothing but piles of old metal containers as far as the eye could gather. To the west resided a stone staircase leading downwards into the basement of the warehouse, whih Snake trusted more than the old, corroded, half-eaten, weak wooden staircase to the right.

And then it hit Snake. Why would there be any Metal Gear information in this place? Of course it would be the ideal location to keep something secret and hidden: it was old, unassuming, and forgotten. But it would be a terrible base of operations, and sure as hell couldn't house a Metal Gear, even below the warehouse itself. Just when Snake was swamped with these thoughts, Otacon's voice echoed it Snake's ear.

"Hey Snake," Otacon began, "did you get in yet?"

"Affirmative, but it's a damn mess inside. I don't know where I should start looking." Snake reported.

"Well, Mei Ling's digging around on that warehouse's origins as we speak. Right now she's busy searching, but as usual she'll be your data processing analyst. Call her when you want to turn in a save, but I suppose you already predicted that."

"Yeah," said Snake.

"What we do know is that the warehouse apparently was nothing more than a small-time military armory. But it served its purpose years ago and it was left for dead structurally. In the higher levels there are --"

"Yeah, I might not be able to make it to the upper levels," Snake intervened. "The staircase is old, rickety, wooden, half-eaten, and corroded almost everywhere."

"I see...well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Downstairs should be an old storage facility, chock full of of old, useless weapons. That might be where it is."

"All right, I'll start there. Signing out," Snake concluded.

Snake headed down the into the depths of the warehouse.

Almost immediately, Snake realized that the downstairs area was a lot worse than he predicted. There were very strange things downstairs; it seemed as if the entire area was sealed of by old spider webs. And as expected, there were much more vermin down here than in the main area. Only there were bigger snakes, bigger mice, bigger rats, and much more dirty. Shrugging this off, however, he got to his mission objective: searching for the Metal Gear data. Snake tirelessly searched around, breaking through cobwebs, dodging mice and rats, taking cover from bats, and being careful not to breathe too much of the underground air. Just as Snake was about to give up and go back upstairs, he heard a loud crash. Drawing his USP, Snake cocked it and stealthily ran back upstairs. Looking in the back of the main chamber of the warehouse, there was a very large hole. And Snake also noticed that the stairs were practically useless now, many of the boards broken out. Before, it was just very weak and corroded; now it was almost completely destroyed. Someone had run p thm.

"Otaon," Snake said into the codec, "there's another infiltrating this warehouse along with me."

"What?" asked a puzzled Otacon.

"Yeah, they crashed through the back and went upstairs, rendering the stairs now useless."

"Hmm...Snake, did you find anything downstairs?"

"Negative, just cobwebs and rats."

"Then our only bet is upstairs. Snake, you're an expert at free climbing; could you climb there without needing the stairs?" Otacon asked.

"No, there's not enoughholds to climb with," Snake returned.

"Well...damn! Are there any ladders around?"

"Maybe, there's bound to be some. I'll have a look around."

It didn't take long for Snake to notice an old maintenance crate full of supplies and, yes, a ladder. But it was fairly old, so Snake would have to watch himself with it. Setting it up, Snake slowly climbed up the ladder he set against the wall leading up to the last step of the stairs, which he would have to carefully step on. When Snake stood on the board, it almost crushed under his weight, but Snake quickly got off of it and onto the floor of the second level. Snake looked around and, at first, saw nothing. But then, Snake saw a man that wore a long black leather coat and a mask. But why would a lowly thug be in a old military armory warehouse? But of course, Snake was there, so this man must be after the same thing Snake was after: the Metal Gear data. Thinking quickly, Snake pointed the USP at the black mask-wearing thug.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

The man didn't turn around, but Snake saw in his hand a very thick, almost book-like document stack, and a zip disk grasped between the man's glove-covered thumb and the documents, presumably the Metal Gear data.

"Drop them," Snake ordered harshly.

The person finally spoke. "So you were involved, too? Well, it doesn't surprise me. But I'm afraid you won't be getting these."

"Like hell I won't," Snake said defiantly.

"Don't get too cocky, Snake. You might not have much to be cocky about. Well, in a demented sort of way, yes. But I really should be going..."

Snake fired the USP at the figure but he dodged it and ran to the window, jumping out of the glass veil, breaking the weak glass and falling out of it. Snake ran over to the window and looked out of it, but the strange being was nowhere in sight. Snake called Otacon.

"Otacon," Snake began, "I think I may have found the data, but..."

"But what?" Otaocn said reluctantly.

"That other person got it before I did, and I couldn't stop him. He was some character, wearing something straight out of a John Woo movie," Snake said humorously.

"...Damn...well Snake, search the area just to be sure."

"Will do," Snake concluded before turning off the codec.

As Otacon requested, Snake did indeed sweep the area, but found nothing of any significance. Giving up, Snake climbed down the ladder and walked out of the front door.

And to Snake's surprise, he saw a civilian helicoptor on the roof of an opposing building to the warehouse. On Snake's codec, a voice said "Snake, we're acting like we're delivering supplies around the city, so hurry into the coptor or get left behind."

So this was the extraction method. Clever, Snake thought, but Snake didn't like the ride back home, because the pilot was very inexperienced and kept swerving around. When they finally did return to headquarters, Otacon greeted him with "I guess this is a mission failure."

Those words were something Snake did not hear very often. Clenching his teeth, Snake knew he would have to work harder next time.

And he would. Because Otacon had located Olga Gurlukovich's child in Ohio.


	13. Traversion

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

"...Locked." "I'm not sure, then, Snake. But you need to find a way out of there and find Metal Gear!" "Alright." Snake turned off the codec.

Just then, Snake saw a sentry walk in through a door outside of the cell. The sentry walked around the cell, and when he reached the door, he looked at Snake and said "So you're the one I'm supposed to be guarding..." Snake looked at the sentry. As usual, he looked like any other sentry he'd seen so far, same side that was against him. "My name's Jake. What's yours?" "Snake..." "Snake, huh...third best title...right next to 'Fox' and 'Big Boss...'" "Yeah." Snake thought back. He remembered fighting Gray Fox back in Zanzibar Land. _"You have rightfully earned the code name 'Fox...'"_ In fact, Snake was of the title of "Big Boss" since he had defeated him. But Snake had decided to keep the code name "Snake." The sentry asked "What are you in here for?" "You don't know?" Snake asked back. "No...I was just sent here to make sure you don't escape." "Let's just say I'm fighting for freedom." The sentry looked around. "Freedom, huh..you here to destroy Metal Gear?" Snake didn't answer. "I suppose you don't have to answer...but that's probably what you're after." The sentry examined the cell and Snake inside of it. "You know, this isn't right...so..." The sentry pulled out a ring of keys, and found one of them, inserting it into the door's keyhole, and turning it. With a loud click, the door unlocked. He pushed open the door. Snake walked up and assumed a fighting stance. This was his chance. "Wait, wait!" The sentry threw aside his M4 assault carbine, raising his hands. "Dude, I just felt sorry for you, so...just get out of here. I'll explain to the command that you got out when I was using the bathroom, somehow..." Backing away, the sentry receded into the southeast corner of the outside room. Snake realized that the enemy already had discovered of his presence, so there was nothing to reveal if he did rat to his superiors that he got out...and that this Jake was surrendering to him. Snake still kept his guard up, however, and exited the room, still looking at Jake.

--

Zidel looked at the security monitor with disgust. "That damn idiot!" He shook his head. "I knew I shouldn't have sent him there, he's too soft-hearted!" Sighing, he picked up his sawed-off shotgun and exited the room. "That boy will pay for his careless actions..." Just as he left the room, some person, very skinny, was down the hall, fixated at Zidel. "So you're that Zidel?" Zidel looked at him with disgust, raising his shotgun. But just as Zidel took aim at the man, the bolts from a crossbow showered all around him. "Idiot." the man retorted. The man looked very frail, very weak, almost feeble, even. There wasn't much to say about his constitution, either; he was rather pale and veins coursed throughout his features. "I suppose you haven't heard of me. They call me the Falcon." Zidel shot him a hateful look, filled with contempt. "And why do they call you that? Because you can fly?" But even as Zidel said that, the man designated Falcon shot a peculiar device from behind his brown trench coat. They were something like he had never seen before, and one was on either side of him. They looked almost like..."Wings?" Zidel looked aghast. Surely he must be joking. Surely this was just a practical joke. If it was, though, it wasn't very funny. "Listen, crumple-boy, get out of my way or you'll feel my fist in your face." The Falcon looked back at him. "Oh, Zidel, Zidel...the outcome of battle depends not on things such as brute strength, or whoever has the better gun! Tell me; the bulkiest person in the world could snap you in two if he could get a hold of you. But when you have mastered speed, mastered dexterity, mastered grace...mastered the winds...no matter how weak you are, you will always emerge victorious. And tell me this; a single shred of rock that hits you can merely be shrugged off, correct? But when they surround you...grasp you...pull you in...they slice your body to shreds. Again, it's all about speed, and frequency of attack. So before you threaten me with hollow intimidation methods, think about your speed first! Until you have mastered the winds, don't bother me!" Apparently, this shouting had tired the Falcon, because he was panting already. He pulled out a hypodermic syringe and injected himself with some red, glucose-like liquid, presumably blood. In fact, it looked like he could tire easily, like it wouldn't take much to make him slow down. But then, why was he speaking to Zidel about speed, grace, and frequency? Hm...master of the winds, eh? Maybe he could fly... "I'm here to help you. 'They' sent me, of course." "Oh yeah...? Then who are the Patriots?" "La-li-lu-le-lo." Falcon responded. "Hm...so maybe you are for real. Tell me, why did they send you?" The Falcon shook his head. "Why wouldn't they send 'The Fallen' to help? We're their special forces unit, after all." Zidel scratched his chin. "The Fallen...fuckin' idiots. Last time I checked, you had some fuckin' 'pyromaniac' helping you, which I still believe is bullshit, by the way. Even if he could shoot fire, the only thing you can rely on in the end is a trusty shotgun." The Falcon looked at Zidel with with a moment's contempt, but thought better of it. "The Dragon is more able than you think." "Oh yeah? Then why isn't he here now? Why did I get you? In fact, why were you even accepted into the Fallen?" "Still a sore loser because of failing your test, Zidel? You're more feeble than Gunsmith..." Zidel growled. "Don't you dare fuckin' compare me with that gun freak! The only thing he had going for him was _knowledge_ of guns, and last time I checked, knowledge of guns don't save your life." The Falcon actually cracked a smile. Zidel spoke up again. "And where is that fuck now? He back fightin' the good war with his country again?" "No, actually he's affiliated with mercenary work." Zidel shook his head again. "You watch, he'll probably end up standing on the sidelines and watching somebody else fight." "You never can tell," replied Falcon. "Now, onto the help I'm supposed to provide you with..." "Save it. I've got to take care of a 'passionate soul...'" And with that, Zidel walked to the left, veering away from the Falcon.

--

Snake was running down the green, dirty, grimy hallway. Dust and slime were coated everywhere on the walls, leading up all the way to the end of the hall, which lead into a vast corridor. At the end of the corridor was a large pitcher-glass window, overlooking the view of the desert outside. Wanting to escape quickly as to not attract any attention to himself, he rushed down the opposite end of the hallway, away from the rather large window. He found another corridor that was similar to Snake's a little further down. This must be where Meryl was being impriosned. Running down the hallway, Snake went to the large door and looked through the glass in the center of it. Inside it was a room that had a completely sealed-off barrier around it, with a presumably locked industrial steel door. Meryl may be in there...Snake opened the door and rushed in, finding a sentry who likewise found him. Snake then rushed overt to slam his face into the ground o incapacitate him, rummaging through his pockets, and finallyfinding a set of keys. Snake went through the keys and unlocked the door, seeing that it was completely pitch black in here, and finding Meryl's unconscious form lying on a bed. "Meryl!" Snake ran over and shook her awake. "S-Snake..." "Meryl..." Snake emraced her, and then nervously backed away. "Uh...time to go." "Alright..." Meryl then found all of her belongings and strapped them to her body. "Let;s go!" she said readily. "All right. Stay close behind," Snake told her. And with that, the two traversed through the base, to meet their target: Metal Gear.


	14. Liberation

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

... With that, the two traversed through the base, to meet their target: Metal Gear.

Snake and Meryl had trekked around the base, intently eying for anything suspicious, searching for the elevator once more. Finally, they found it. Pushing the button for the lowest level, they got out of the elevator as it stopped and looked around.

The entire area looked like a hangar, barracks upon barracks of weapons; firearms, missile launchers, you name it. In the center was a large "Z" that looked like it opened in the center. That must be where Metal Gear is located. Honestly, where else could it be?

--

Zidel looked everywhere for that soldier that released Solid Snake. He was nowhere to be found. Oh well, he'd find him sooner or later. Just as Zidel was turning to go to the elevator to descend into the lower holds, Zidel heard a beep in his ear. His codec was receiving a call.

"Yeah?" Zidel replied irritably. "It's me," said a voice similar The Falcon, whom he'd met earlier. "I just wanted to inform you that The Dragon is here." "Who, that fuckin' shit head? Oh boy, when did he get here?" Zidel answered furiously. "About twenty minutes ago. You've been gone for the better part of 45 minutes," The Falcon answered. "Yeah? So? That doesn't explain why he's here. What's he gonna do, help me melt my shirt buttons?"

"Actually, I'm here to make sure you don't screw everything up." Zidel turned around to find himself staring at The Dragon, the leader of the Fallen. "You can go now, Falcon. I've got it from here. They need you back now, anyway." The Falcon responded through the codec "Sure thing, boss. I'll see you back."

"Alright now smart ass, you've disgraced the Fallen once. Don't you dare let me catch you soiling our good name again." Zidel looked at him with a face filled with contempt. "And what the fuck are you going to do to stop me? Use your 'awesome fire-controlling abilities' against me? Bah, don't waste my time. Now get the fuck out of my facility. Before Xelv gets angry with you. And when Xelv gets angry, nothing ever ends well." The Dragon gave a laugh, layered thickly with his Spanish accent. "You..." The Dragon was still chuckling, "actually think you can even touch me?" Zidel snarled greatly, raising his shotgun hard and fast to The Dragon's face. He gave one shot of the shotgun, the shell exploding to the leader of the Fallen's face. What Zidel expected and what happened totally shocked him.

The Dragon had actually _manipulated the shotgun shrapnel to veer away from him_. When Zidel saw this, he nearly dropped in fear. This couldn't physically happen. Unless he was actually...unless he was actually...a "Pyrokinetic soldier? No...it can't be..." "What, Zidel?" As The Dragon said this, he produced a Zippo lighter from his pocket of the long red wrap-around cape he wore. He flicked the lighter, and before Zidel realized what he was going to do, the small flicker of flame coming out of the top of the lighter grew into a huge fireball half of Zidel's body size. "Burn," said The Dragon before the ball of flame surrounded Zidel in kind of a spherical shield around him. The flames didn't touch him, but it was extremely, extremely hot and if Zidel moved at all, he catch aflame. So Zidel started firing rapidly with his shotgun through the "shield" of flame. The Dragon had to at least admit that Zidel was firing rapidly for a shotgun. But of course, seeing as the shotgun shrapnel was extremely hot, he could control it in mid-air. Zidel was so stupid.

"Now do you promise you won't be thoroughly stupid and not to disgrace us again?" Zidel scowled from behind the flames, sweating profusely. "Y-Yes..." Zidel looked angry when the flames were lifted, him falling to the ground in fatigue. "Now...the reason I was sent here...the Patriots wanted me to tell you that the startup code input password is "03CA412." "Alright... 03CA412. Got it. Now you can get your crazy pyromaniac ass out of my facility. So fuck off." The Dragon turned tail, swooshing his red cape behind him. "'Til we next meet, Zidel." When he was out of earshot from Zidel, he whispered "If you're alive, that is..."

--

Snake had equipped himself with a Stinger missile launcher for himself and Meryl when they heard the elevator calling upwards. Soon after, it was calling downwards again. Someone was coming.

"Meryl, follow me. Take the other side of the elevator when it comes down, beside the door when it opens. Then we'll ambush whoever it is." Snake ran over to the right side of the open elevator shaft, while Meryl took the left. Both of them had their weapons cocked and ready to fire. When the elevator reached the bottom, the doors swooshing open, Snake immediately said "Freeze!" And surely enough, the man who had walked out of the elevator was none other than Zidel, the man who had caused the fate of an entire town, and one of Snake's personal objectives. Not thinking clearly, Snake fired a round of the USP at him. But before Snake registered what happened, Zidel had charged in front of them both, obviously evading the bullet, his shotgun pointed between them. "Xelv is trigger happy and offended, so if you challenge me, he'll kill you!" "Xelv...?" Snake questioned, but he assumed "Xelv" was the name he had given his shotgun. Zidel said "But no...I have a more fitting death for you, Solid Snake..." Snake decided to keep his gun trained on Zidel, but he was going to let him bring out Metal Gear, to reveal itself to be destroyed. And as expected, Zidel threw out a switch and pressed a small button, which separated the two doors of the large "Z" bearing floor gate. Zidel rushed to the Metal Gear unit that was rising from the floor. But before Snake could retaliate and shoot Zidel, Zidel had already jumped into the cockpit of the hulking mass of steel. Snake thought he heard the elevator rise, but he couldn't be sure, for his eyes were fixated on the Metal Gear, and Meryl was right beside him, her Stinger missile launcher already at the ready. She fired once, the missile exploding onto the well-armored head, but some damage was apparent. "Meryl, get away!" Meryl nodded, and Snake shot a missile from his own Stinger missile launcher while Meryl ran behind the large steel crate, the missile hitting directly onto the joint leg area, which was the least armored. It almost immediately and completely destroyed the right leg. Zidel had not depended on such a great loss so early on. "ARRRRRRGGGGGH! SNAKE! It's not over yet!" Zidel had set the gun sights on Snake and started rapidly firing the machine guns at him. Snake rolled away from the constant fire and returned another missile into the right leg, in the base of it, as the left had been. Now it crumpled to the ground. Then, apparently from the destruction within, the unit had caught a massive fire, which proceeded to consume the hulking mass of metal. The flames had melted the unit quite quickly, however, and it was hotter than it should be in the hangar. "Wha – DRA -- !" Before Zidel could finish what he was going to say, however the unit had exploded into a shower of steel, wiring, and bits of everything the unit had been equipped with. Snake took cover beside Meryl and waited the steel to stop showering them before coming out once again. "What the hell...?"

--

The Dragon had stood up from the crouch he assumed on the upper rafters when he burned the Metal Gear. Swooshing his red cape behind him, The Dragon walked off, back to the elevator.

"It's been done. Tell 'them' that Zidel's been taken care of. The unit? It was devastated. Don't talk to me like that. It had to be done. I do wonder who that man was, though...at that rate, he could've destroyed the unit himself...yes, yes. I understand. Zidel's views were different from that of The Fallen...yes. I'm coming home."


	15. The Hunt

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

Troubled Hand sat in silence as he watched watched his entire meaning in life, his whole point of existence, destroyed in front of his eyes. On the monitor, he had seen Solid Snake and some strange woman take down Metal Gear, very quickly and single-handedly. He wished Zidel would've let him kill Snake back in the torture room. But no, Zidel wanted to toy with him. To hell with toying. All Troubled Hand cared about from that point on was killing people as quickly and efficiently as possible. Honestly, why give someone any chance to live when you can kill them right there? Hand also realized that the Patriots would have a lot of griping at him, possibly he would be exterminated by them. Probably by The Fallen – but as he thought that, he saw on a different monitor the camera's feed above the elevator. There he saw a member of The Fallen – The Dragon. The Hand's imagination ran wild. Metal Gear really was destroyed way too quickly and early for even Snake to have done. The Dragon must have shot flame at it, destroying it quickly. Well, Troubled Hand would not just stand by and let his career end. He would have vengeance. He would destroy the Patriots.

Hand then pieced everything together. The Patriots let Zidel go about with his Metal Gear. They then sent two members of The Fallen – The Falcon and The Dragon – to exterminate him. The Falcon lulled Zidel in with "aid" that was sent by the Patriots – then when Zidel was unhappy with him, he would be even unhappier when The Dragon showed up, offering the same "aid." The Dragon then fills him in on the startup code, making his presence seem credible. Afterwards, The Dragon eliminates Zidel and his Metal Gear.

But the only thing wrong with this picture was the lack of a motive. Why would the Patriots want Zidel dead? Zidel had only failed the acceptance test of The Fallen; surely this was not a strong enough reason for assassination. Perhaps there was something not completely revealed to Hand yet.

But then Hand thought again. Maybe there were after him as well. If they killed Zidel, maybe they would want to eliminate his first officer. The Patriots would not have his death. They would not collect his bounty.

--

Troubled Hand has since went underground, shielding his presence from the Patriots. Right now he occupied a small hut out in the middle of nowhere. Surely The Fallen could not find him here. Surely nothing strange would happen here. Not before Hand was about to strike back against the Patriots.

But that wasn't the case. For now his front door burst forward onto the floor, shattering into thousands of wooden splinters, coating the floor. There in the wood and dust he saw a huge man...no, huge was too small a word for it. He was gigantic. Strapped to his back were both a Stinger missile launcher and a Nikita guided missile launcher. Strapped to the belt of his combat jean's waist is what Hand suspected was no fewer than seventy Claymore mines, side by side perfectly. On top of his rather small head for a man of his stature was a buzz-cut blond haircut. His bicepsand triceps were very, very large, his neck stood out prominently, and he just seemed so intimidating...

Hand, however, thought quickly. He grabbed his dual TMPs on his waist and started blasting both of them to the large being. No fewer than sixty bullets had hit the man before Hand started reloading them both. The man actually laughed and waited patiently for Hand to reload. Hand again pressed his fire, but the man did not even wind a bit backwards, and the bullets showed no mark of damage to the man.

_What the fuck is this guy...?_

Troubled Hand was now started to get very intimidated. Was this it? Was it over? Was his life to end, to be crushed by the hands of a very large stranger who burst into his home?

"Are you done?" said the man amusingly as he kept his gaze lying toward Hand. "I am The Rhino, the Explosive Solder. Proud member of The Fallen."

_Oh shit. The Fallen. _

"Uh, uh, what are you doing here?" said Hand lamely, trying to save time.

"To the point as always, are you?" The Rhino shook his head and took a step forward. "Mother Earth has given me strength, protection, immunity...everything I have I owe to her. Listen! Do you feel her heartbeat?"

Troubled Hand nodded his head no. _What the fuck is Mother Earth's heartbeat? _

"Of course, I would expect no less from one so blind to the Earth." The Rhino said condescendingly. The Rhino walked over to hand and picked him up rather easily with one hand. Tossing him out of the now-broken doorway, The Rhino walked out with him.

"Take a look around you. What do you see?"

Troubled hand took a look around, thinking of options. "Uh...some weeds over there...those trees...that boulder...a mud slick."

"No...that is only what you see. The eyes are the most deceptive organ in our bodies...showing us everything in such a bland presentation. No, to see Mother Earth truly...you must first blind yourself to your surroundings. Only darkness will be seen. And in that darkness you will find force and energy. Flame and heat. Magma and eruption...only there you see...feel...hear Mother Earth's beating heart. Do you understand?"

Troubled Hand shook his head, not truly understanding what The Rhino said. Then Troubled Hand was hit with an idea.

Maybe he could shoot one of his Claymores. Maybe he would withstand a bullet, but not explosions. So thinking quickly, Hand pulled one of his TMPs out and fired a single round into one of his Claymores, all of the Claymores having a domino effect in explosions. Leaping across from the explosions, Hand looked at the flaming ball that he was sure was The Rhino's burning husk. But he saw something completely different.

In the flaming ball that was The Rhino, The Rhino lowered his head in peace, not screaming in agony, not yelping in pain, not even wincing. When the flames died down, The Rhino still stood there, as untouched as before he erupted into a ball of flame.

"What are you?" said Hand fearfully, paralyzed with shock. The Rhino said "Surely you don't believe you can hurt me when I have Mother Earth at my side. Mother earth gives me strength, offers me protection." The Rhino pulled a Stinger missile launcher from his back, the launcher itself a bit charred but still functioned alright. From the barrel of the launcher came a long, smooth missile, heading straight for Troubled Hand.

Hand reacted immediately. He fired a single round from his TMP at the missile's warhead, and it hit. Dead center.

The missile exploded, and The Rhino fired another. And another. And another. And Hand kept counter-attacking, destroying each missile he shot. The Rhino finally ran out of Stinger missiles. He dropped it and took from his back the Nikita. Firing a missile from its tip, these missiles were easier to hit, for they were a bit larger and had a bigger warhead. The Rhino had kept firing them and had finally ran out missiles for the launcher, as had happened with the Stinger. Finally, The Rhino was out of ammunition. Troubled Hand took this as his chance.

Hand drew an XM8 strapped to his back and started firing rapidly at The Rhino. Every bullet that hit The Rhino was simply shrugged off, as had the TMP fire from earlier.

"Even though you have destroyed all of my ammunition, you cannot survive my bare hands. And no bullet can harm me, as you saw."

Hand looked fearful. This was it.

--

Solid Snake had returned from his mission at Zidel's base. Very fatigued, Snake fell down on top of his bed, but in doing so he nearly landed on Meryl, who was also slumbering peacefully. Snake immediately slipped off to sleep . While Snake was asleep, however, Otacon was wide awake, deciphering a message he found in his e-mail. Apparently it was encrypted not to be seen, and Otacon only barely noticed it in the source script he was looking at.

After finally deciphering it for four hours, Otacon looked alarmed. The message was...

"A weapon of mass destruction in the hands of Zidel will be destroyed, beginning a startup sequence to the most powerful weapon of all."


	16. The Freezing Frying Pan

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

The Rhino charged forward at a speed that defied his physiology. Rolling to the side, away from The Rhino's grasp, Troubled Hand then leapt on top of The Rhino's back, holding on tightly with one hand and drawing his TMP with the other. The Rhino shook about, but Hand had started rapidly firing his TMP at the back of The Rhino's head. Again, nothing. What was Hand to do if bullets, explosives, brute force or anything could not hurt him. So Hand did the only thing he could do. He ran.

"So the Hand leaves his weapon!" The Rhino looked at Troubled Hand and saw a TMP lying next to his foot. Thinking quickly, The Rhino picked it up and fired the TMP in Hand's general direction. Hand heard the gunfire just in time to roll behind a tree next to his house, for Hand had just began running. Hand had on some light body armor underneath his shirt that might withstand a bullet or two. It wouldn't last. Just as Troubled Hand was going to give up, something happened that he never would have predicted. The Rhino stopped firing.

"Yes, boss. I agree that he would prove useful if he stays alive...right, I'm coming back . Just send a chopper over here."

And with that, The Rhino tossed Hand's TMP back over to him, turning tail into nowhere.

"...What the hell...?"

--

2009, after the Big Shell incident. Solid Snake, Raiden and Otacon had emerged from the offshore decontamination facility miraculously unscathed. It had been two years since Snake had brought an end to Zidel and Metal Gear Zenrid. With Arsenal Gear no longer bearing an imminent threat, the world was safe...or so they thought.

Otacon had, for the most part, disregarded the encrypted e-mail message he got as a hoax or someone messing with him. After all, this world did consist of many funny characters. But Otacon was proved horribly wrong.

Metal Gear Destrin. This would be a name that would come to be feared. Metal Gear Destrin was no pushover of a Metal Gear, like many of the ones Snake had destroyed easily. This model truly stood up to the name "Metal Gear," much like REX and RAY before it. This model was standard-equipped with surface piercing tactical bombs, Vulcan machine guns, and of course, everything that makers a Metal Gear, a nuclear missile. It was also equipped with a IR-C3 laser blade, a model #42 Mercy cannon, and an Inu Zero-Cannon. Most of the weapons used for this model were experimental or prototype weapons, still with flaws, but quite devastating nonetheless. The militia descriptions of the weapons are...

IR-C3

Experimental laser blade. Uses electrons and heat to stabilize the "edge" of the "blade." Difficulties with containment and stability.

Mercy Cannon (#42)

Prototype quick-elimination cannon. Uses magma-filled warheads with small amount of fragmentation. Difficulties with magma containment in warheads (causing damage to the cannon) and precision of launch.

Inu Zero-Cannon

Highly-destructive energy cannon. Compacts heat energy and electron-gathering to firing chamber to be launched. Difficulties with electron gathering and backfire probability. Not to be used. Rudimentary experimental stages. Very likely chance of unit destruction if fired.

Otacon had discovered this weapon when searching the disk that had been analyzed of that of the Patriots. But if this disk truly was only designed to destroy information regarding that of the Patriots, why did it have data of some Metal Gear, even when Arsenal Gear was their main area of attention? Otacon found where the unit was based, and it was in Alaska, near the mainland of the state in the mountains.

Solid Snake was to arrive in forty-five minutes. There he lay in the cot in the deployment room, to be sent yet again on a death-defying mission. Snake had made sure that Meryl was not to come, for it was not that he doubted her ability, but of that of Snake's to;protect her. After a while, she promised to stay behind and be his support via the codec. However, Raiden was on his first mission alongside Solid Snake in Philanthropy, for the first time.

"Ten minutes ETA, HALO insertion," came a voice through the loudspeaker. Snake had prepared in advance his HALO gear. On this mission Snake was equipped with nothing more than a M9 tranquilizer pistol and his cigarettes, those cigarettes being the type that reduced on second-hand smoke. The only smoke that the cigarettes produced was the smoke inhaled and blew out. Good. That would make it easier on his assistant in the closed-off room, and Raiden.

Flinging himself off into the white abyss of snow in the white-covered mountains, Snake had dived toward the base, with Raiden alongside him.

It wasn't long before Snake had landed, with Raiden following slightly behind. Raiden, even though he was bearing his trademark Skull Suit and had an injection to prevent hypothermia, was apparently not quite used to cold weather like Snake was.

"I-I-I-I'm freezing, Sn-Snake..." came a voice from a shaken Raiden.

"Get it together, kid," said a dismissive Snake. Snake hid behind a ledge and opted for Raiden to do the same, which he then did along with Snake. Looking around the corner, they saw around four sentries patrolling the vicinity. They were wearing thick black leather jackets with fur collars, and were armed with fragmentation grenades with silenced AKS-74u assault rifles.

"Looks like they're ready for an assault," said an aware Raiden. "Yeah, almost as if they knew someone was coming...I don't like it." said Snake. Raiden drawing his M9 along with Snake, Raiden lined up a shot with one of the sentries when he was away from the others. Firing the long round into the man's neck, he fell almost soundlessly among the harsh winds and snowy ground. Snake took aim at another and fired a round into the second sentry's head, the man falling backwards into the snow, his body being buried into the white snow. At least they didn't have to hide their bodes out here...the deep snow took care of it. Snake and Raiden fired another round into the remaining two sentries' head and heart, and they pressed on. Looking around for an entrance, Snake saw the main door, but there were no visible air ducts. They would have no choice.

"Raiden, we're going to burst in through the front door. Hopefully no one will see us," said a daring Snake. "Snake, are you s-sure about this?" returned Raiden, still cold from the chill in the air, not helped by the wind chill and the snow around them, covering them up to their thigh. "I am sure," said Snake right back. "All right..." said Raiden in a sing-song tone. Snake edged the large front entrance door open, his M9 at the ready, as Raiden's was. After the door was completely open, both Snake and Raiden charged in rather quickly with their weapons drawn Strange...no one was in here.

--

Troubled Hand lifted his TMP off of the table, holstering the weapon in his right sheath. "Is it ready yet?"

"No, I'm afraid not," came a deep voice. "It won't be for another four hours. Recharge time really blows you over." "Four hours?" returned Troubled Hand. "By then the Patriots will have caught onto what we were doing and move away!" "Don't be so negative," came the deep voice again. "I want the Patriots and The Fallen to go down as much as you do, but we need to pull this off carefully." "I know...I know," came Hand. "I assure you, my unit will prevail. The Polar Bear has preserved the unit's electrons using his cryokinesis." "Alright, but tell him to scout around for 'him,' he's bound to show uop any time." "Yes, sir," and with that, the man walked away.


	17. The Wolverine

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

"Surely they must have some security down here," said Snake suspiciously. But just as Snake said that, the door in which they came slammed shut, and the lights dimmed. The lights did not completely extinguish, just very dim. In the dimness, a voice came. It was a raspy, painful voice.

"Are you the one?" said the entity. Snake remained silent. "I can hear you breathing. I can hear your heartbeat. One is quite fast and panicked, the other is calm and collected. So...is it you, Solid Snake?" Snake still remained silent, his M9 searching the dimly lit room. "Where are you?" said a slightly troubled Raiden. "I'm above you. I'm below you. What does it matter, really?"

The Wolverine – Blade Soldier

_**(John Travolta)**_

"Wolverine, have you found them yet?" came a voice on the radio which Snake soon realized belonged to none other than Troubled Hand, Zidel's first officer two years ago. "Yes, boss, The Wolverine shall take care of them shortly." came the entity, apparently named The Wolverine. "Don't toy with them. Kill them both as fast as you can. Don't mess around." "Sure thing boss," came The Wolverine right back, him holstering his radio once more.

"Well, the boss is impatient, Snake," said the entity. "But I do wonder who is with you..." Raiden shook his head and walked forward, trying to find him. But as soon as Raiden did, there must have been at least fifteen knives fly at Raiden, forming a circle behind him into the wall. One of them nicked Raiden on the leg a bit. He let out a slight show of pain, but still kept pressing his gun around for The Wolverine. "Snake, I have a special power over bladed weapons. Wolverines are known to claw their prey to death. Which is only fitting since I have some as well...I made them when I was nine. But now, enough talk. The boss wants me to kill you, so I should follow his orders.' And with that, The Wolverine flew off of wherever he was perched at.

Snake and Raiden couldn't see him. They looked everywhere but he was nowhere to be found. Snake had just barely dodged eight knives heading his way, which were then headed for Raiden, which he avoided as well. Finally, Snake saw him. He was perched onto a railing, a double-bladed sword in one hand. He twirled it around his body; above his head, between his legs, on each side; a twirling frenzy of the large steel blade. He leapt down to the floor and looked straight to Snake. Snake started firing his M9 as rapidly as possible, but each round was merely deflected. Then Raiden got to his back and fired a round into the back of The Wolverine's head, for he was twirling his blade in a fan-like pattern to Snake. When it hit his head, he stopped twirling it and ripped the dart from his head. He looked drowsy, but apparently not enough of the drug had entered his bloodstream for he did not fall over. When The Wolverine turned to face Raiden, Snake rushed forward behind him and slammed his body very hard into the ground. Snake already had his M9 to The Wolverine's face before he could get up. Taking this as his chance, Raiden took one of the knives that The Wolverine had thrown at him and shoved it deep into the side of his neck at an angle. Blood spurted hard and fast through his neck. Appatently not taking this so well, Raiden had put a bandage on his neck, but knew he wouldn't last.

"Eh...heh...heh...Snake...you have...won..."

Snake knew that he was about to confess everything he wanted to do before he died.

"Snake, I...was born in Cleveland. As a child I was abused. When I was not even two years old, my father went on a rampage on my mother, killed her...and then he...cut my eyes out of their sockets." Snake had just noticed that The Wolverine was wearing sunglasses. "Even though I was young I still remember clearly a blade going toward my eyes...hell, I'm not much of a seeing person, so that's my guess at the time that it was a kitchen knife...after the incident I had a strange affinity with all bladed weapons...traumatic experiences? I don't know...it's just like I knew how to wield, operate, attack...I was basically a blade expert. But I had not so much as even touched a blade before. The first blade I picked up in my hands was an African longsword...everyone said I never acted blind. You know Snake, I can hear where you are, it pinpoints your location in my head, so I guess I actually can see...just not in a way you are accustomed to." The Wolverine coughed up blood. "The Patriots...I came in league with them seven years ago. They screwed me over...said I wasn't good enough for them, or their unit." "The Patriots...?" said Snake. "Yes...I wanted to destroy them for everything they stood for. Snake, I...wanted to liberate us all...like Solidus before me. But he died in combat...I wanted to give us all freedom again. Freedom is what I wanted to give to those who are destined to be garbage before they even blossom in the world." Snake was reminded of Liquid Snake, his brother, about the Les Enfants Terribles project. He was garbage before he was even born. Maybe there was a connection. "But now...I shall die as a beacon of lost freedom...I have no regrets. Good luck, Snake." And with that, he drew his last breath.

"...Let's move on," said Snake to Raiden. Raiden nodded and followed Snake through the level 1 security door in the back.

Snake and Raiden both turned on their codecs when they entered the corridor ahead. "Otacon, can you hear me? This is Snake. Kept you waiting, huh?" Otacon's voice floated into his ear. "There you are. Why haven't you contacted me yet? I was starting to get worried." "I had a little trouble getting in. It's all right now, though." "What kind of trouble?" queried Otacon. "I ran into a mercenary calling himself 'The Wolverine.' I had to take him out," Snake began but Raiden intervened. "You mean _I _took him out," said Raiden cockily. "...Getting back on hand, we've successfully infiltrated the base." "Very good," Otacon said. "Remember, time is of the essence here. You need to sabotage Metal Gear before the night runs out. It is essential that you do, Snake." "Why's that?" returned Snake. "Because of it's heat alloy in its left arm, you know, the one that powers the IR-C3." Snake thought back. The IR-C3 was the laser blade still in the experimental stages that was being used for Metal Gear Destrin. "So if sunlight hits that arm, the laser blade will be quite stable and much faster, so it could cut you in half." "Got it," replied Snake. "And Otacon, the mercenary I've encountered...he mentioned something about the Patriots." "Really?" "Yeah, something about being rejected from some unit of theirs. Know anything about it?" queried Snake. "That's strange...I'll dig around, but I don't know what'll come up." "Thanks," said Snake before he cut transmission. Moving forward with Raiden trailing fast behind, Raiden pointed something out. "Snake, that's a strange soldier." And he was right. The soldier was equipped with a silenced M4 carbine and a TEC-9 machine pistol, very thick body armor. In fact, it was more steel that padded body armor. There was also a taser at his side beside an incendiary grenade. "Man, they're heavily equipped," said Snake obviously. "No joke, "replied Raiden, pointing his M9 at the man, shooting the round into the back of his head. He fell forward, fast asleep. "Let's go," said Raiden as Snake and Raiden pressed on.


	18. Bitterly Cold

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

Snake and Raiden both had took the time to search the entire floor for loose ammunition. What they found were thirteen clips for the M9, a USP, three clips for it, and a few fragmentation grenades. Raiden said that Snake could keep the USP upon Snake's offering, that Raiden was alright with the M9. But when they went to the second floor, everything was strange.

The entire area was a freezer. There were icicles everywhere, snow covered the metallic floors, and their breath was very thick with the cold temperature. Even Snake felt a shivering sensation.

Almost eight seconds after they had entered seven icicles flew past Snake and Raiden, them barely dodging the projectiles. "A step further and you'll be dead."

The Polar Bear – Cryokinetic Soldier

_**(Rob Paulsen)**_

Some man, completely decked out in white clothing which blended in perfectly with the environment around him, stepped out from behind a large icy crate. The man himself bore two blue tattoos on his face, one being the symbol of peace and the other the symbol of hostility. But what was truly strange about the man was his eyes. They were a peaceful, calm, light blue that told both Snake and Raiden nothing but peace. "I am truly sorry that my man The Wolverine failed in his task. Oh well, he couldn't see anyway. He wouldn't have made it much farther in life." The man stepped forward again, balls of ice forming in his palms. They were crystal clear ice orbs. "Snake, I have you cornered now. There is no escape for you, I am afraid." Snake cocked his USP. "Like hell you do," shot Snake right back, "you're going down." Unlike many others Snake had faced before, the man didn't laugh, chuckle, or even smile at Snake's mention of his own skill. In fact, he looked concerned. "Do you know the difference between those you have faced that have died and those that have lived that you have combated? I'll tell you. Cockiness. Your foes always placed too much faith into themselves against you, and that is how you lose a battle. Faith is grand to have, but any kind of excessiveness can get you killed. Me? I know I have a damn well chance of dying here and now. As do you, Snake, and...the newcomer." "It's Raiden," replied the operative standing beside Snake, his own M9 pointed to the man. "Ah...Raiden," replied the man upon hearing this. "I do hope you know that you will not have any training wheels this time around, right?" Raiden shot back a face of contempt. "What, like you? No no, wait, lemme guess. You can control ice. Oooohhhhhh..." Raiden added cockily. The man shot him a face filled with as much contempt as Raiden. "Yes, I can. I can control the temperature, can freeze the water vapor in the air around me, can form ice out of it. When performed correctly, it can act as a shield, a weapon, a projectile, a radial burst, anything I want it to act as." Raiden almost laughed. "So you think you're some kind of worthy soldier?" "Yes, I am. As is Solid Snake. But you...you can go straight to hell." Raiden actually did let out a chuckle this time. "You won't find anything more of a job than to keep cans cool. Though I must say a human freezer could be quite effective..." While inside this man was having an inner battle, he showed no more of a sign of anger than Raiden was showing now. "Then let us all fight, and see how the 'human freezer' fares," said the man. "Now, The Polar Bear shall freeze the very air you breathe...C'mon!"

The Polar Bear threw both of the ice balls that he had formed earlier at Snake and Raiden. Raiden ducked to dodge the ball while Snake shot it to pieces with one shot from his USP. When Snake lined up a shot to The Polar Bear, the man formed a huge, very thick plate of solid ice in front of his entire body. Snake shot the USP at where The Polar Bear's head was, but only hit ice as the bullet harmlessly bounced away. Snake shot at it a few more times, but the ice was just too thick. It wouldn't pierce it. At that time, Raiden was running to The Polar Bear's side to get a shot in at him, but he manipulated the snow on the ground to shoot into Raiden's eyes, blinding him for a moment. Using this time to attack Snake, The Polar Bear threw the huge thick ice "shield" at Snake and it hit right on target. Snake flew backwards, landing into the snow, pinned to the floor by the huge ice wall-like formation. Raiden fired the M9 at Polar Bear but he turned around just in time to see it. What he did was form the water vapor in the air to freeze and gather around the flying anesthetic round, weighing it down so much it fell down into the snow. "That's all you got, huh?" said Raiden in a cocky tone. The Polar Bear merely lifted his finger at Raiden and a powerful blast of snow slammed into Raiden, knocking him flying backwards. Raiden stood up quickly, however, and Raiden fired round after round after round of the M9 toward The Polar Bear, The Polar Bear simply duplicating what he did to the first round the Raiden fired. Around this time, Snake had finally wriggled free from under the ice block and was firing his USP at The Polar Bear very rapidly. But The Polar Bear was simply freezing every round that came to him, looking rather bored on his expression. Raiden decided to draw The Polar Bear's attention to himself while Snake drew in from behind by taunting him.

"So how are able to get up in the morning with all that frost covering your eyes? Do you magically wisp it away?" Raiden said. The Polar Bear drew an entire full body shield around him, leaving no trace of him behind the huge mass of ice. Suddenly, the ball of ice exploded into a shower of very sharp ice blades. They went everywhere, but especially toward Raiden. Raiden did a miraculous flip and managed to dodge almost every one of the flying ice shards, each one barely missing him. One however had barely scratched his cheek, blood flowing out of it similar to a paper cut wound. Snake had dived for cover behind a large steel crate. Raiden, after composing himself, drew his M9 to The Polar Bear and fired the last round of the clip. Raiden, diving behind a crate to reload, called Snake via codec.

"Snake, I don't think we can beat him just yet, we may have to get new equipment," observed Raiden. "I know. But you didn't make things easier by angering him. I'll have to agree with what he said; faith in self is a luxury, but excessiveness will kill you one day." "I thought I could loosen him up a little bit, get him angry..." Snake answered almost immediately. "Kid, a fight isn't about loosening people up or trying to attack them mentally. It's either shoot, run, give up, or die." Raiden nodded slowly before cutting transmission.

But after the transmission ended, they both noticed the back exit and the elevator doors were frozen completely shut. There would be no escape. So Snake looked around for any means to get in a good hit on The Polar Bear. There were a few explosive cannisters that were almost completely buried by snow. When The Polar Bear walked near one, Snake fired a round of his USP at the cannister. The explosion engulfed all of the ice and snow around it, and apparently The Polar Bear. The Polar Bear had, however, formed a shield similar to the one he had formed earlier to deflect Snake's USP bullet. The explosion of course had melted most of the shield, and he was channeling all of his energy to form the shield not to melt away. Using this time to fire a tranquilizer round, Raiden shot his M9 at the enemy. Still however, The Polar Bear had weighed down the flying anesthetic round with ice. "You look stupid," said Raiden when The Polar Bear tuned to face him. "Are you supposed to seem intimidating? Well to me you look just like a mad Alaskan with a couple of tattoos." Snake shook his head solemnly. The Polar Bear had finally gotten angered. He formed a huge ice lance and manipulated it to charge straight into Raiden's heart. Raiden flipped sideways to dodge the ice lance, but in doing so he slammed into a steel crate. Forming the snow to form around Raiden, it was huge and heavy, even supporting Raiden's weight. Then he swung the snow covered Raiden into the wall repeatedly before raising him upon into the air, an ice lance formed already where Raiden was going to land. Snake acted immediately. He shot up completely the ice pillar The Polar Bear had created, but Raiden still landed hard to the ground. Then The Polar Bear tossed Raiden's snow-covered form to Snake. Toppling onto Snake, they both were temporarily pinned to the ground. The Polar Bear walked over to them and formed a huge ice pillar right to Raiden's heart, which would go through the Snake's stomach if it went through. But then, The Polar Bear widened his eyes greatly and the ice pillar toppled over beside both of their prone figures. Getting up to their feet, both Snake and Raiden saw that the back exit was no longer frozen, that the ice had turned to liquid and melted into the snow it loomed before. In an almost running pace, Snake and Raiden disappeared behind the door. Snake and Raiden had both, however, heard the door crackle, re-freezing itself.

--

Standing by the elevator was none other than the leader of The Fallen, The Dragon.

"Dragon...why are you here?" The Polar Bear looked surprised. How did The Fallen catch onto their plan so quickly. "It's over, Bear," replied The Dragon in an almost evil tone. Shooting forth a huge spurt of flame, The Polar Bear had crossed his arms in an X-fashion on his chest, forming a huge ice shield to veer the flames away from him. The Dragon wasn't surprised. "So you've finally mastered it, have you?" "Yes, I have...when we last fought, I didn't know how to control ice as well as you did flames." The Dragon got right to the point. "We know what you're trying to do. You're trying to eliminate our base of operations. The rest of The Fallen know not I am here, or of your plan. I must say, did Troubled Hand pay you well?" "He didn't have to pay me anything," said The Polar Bear menacingly, "it's a cause worth fighting for." The Dragon shot forth another spurt of flame. But The Polar Bear had simply formed another ice shield. This time, The Polar Bear counter-attacked with his own blast of ice. The Dragon performed a similar shield-forming method that The Polar Bear had used to veer his flames away. When the ice pillar flew into the rotating vortex or flames in front of The Dragon, it simply melted. Before The Dragon could return his own counter-attack, The Polar Bear had formed a complete 5 foot radius shield of thick ice around him. The Dragon, when he attacked, completely engulfed the huge ice shield to water, melting some of the ice away and almost all of the snow around it. When the ice shield was nearly completely melted, The Polar Bear manipulated all of the snow in the room to head toward The Dragon, to encase him in it. That'd freeze the pyromaniac... When this happened, however, The Dragon simply formed a complete five foot radius flame shield around himself, melting all of the snow that threatened to engulf him. When every last bit of the snow in the room was melted, the entire area was one-forth filled with water, the liquid coming up to their ankles. "Just give up, Deonorth," said The Dragon. "I will never surrender, especially not to the likes of you, Dragon." Hatred filled each other's eyes.

This was the clash of the elements.


	19. Clash of the Elements

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

"Just give up, Deonorth," said The Dragon. "I will never surrender, especially not to the likes of you, Dragon." Hatred filled each other's eyes.

This was the clash of the elements.

--

Snake and Raiden both headed forward, trying to close as much distance away from The Polar Bear as possible. "Snake, what was that back there?" Raiden inquired. "Kid, I should be asking you that same question. Why did you have to make him mad? No good would've came from it. Now, if your opponent's power relies on concentration or brute strength, taunting them would be a good idea. Just be careful of who you mock, all right?" Raiden looked downwards. He never liked it when Snake lectured him; he knew he was just trying to make him better than he already was, but enough already. Snake rushed forwards all of a sudden, however, and peeked slightly around the corner of a wall. Raiden followed Snake, but then he saw why Snake was hiding; Troubled Hand and some man were discussing something in a huge main hall. Raiden dove in the opposite wall to Snake and mimicked Snake's act of peeking around the corner.

"But Rattlesnake, are you _sure_ The Wolverine will succeed?" The other man looked at Hand with a smirk. "Of course he will," said the other man, "The Wolverine is more capable than many soldiers out there, despite his blindness. He also knows his weakness, so he should've already prevailed. Don't worry, Hand. I'm sure he --" the man just picked up his radio. "Yeah, what is it?" Another voice came through the radio's speaker. "The Wolverine..." Did he succeed? Of course he did, why am I asking --" "We just found his corpse, boss..." An infuriated expression came across the man's face. "How? Even the great Solid Snake couldn't stand up to the great Wolverine!" The other voice remained silent. "Damn...was it a quick death?" "...It looks like he suffered for a little while before he died; his neck was stabbed in at an angle." The man clenched his fists, his biceps pulsating greatly. "That will be all, Starfish." He crushed the radio within his grasp. Troubled Hand shook his head. "I can't believe just Solid Snake could accomplish that task. ...Look out, he may have an accomplice this time." "But who?" the other man shot back. "Solid Snake always worked alone." Troubled Hand shrugged. "...He's changed since the Big Shell." The other man sighed. "Don't worry, Hand. The Patriots and their unit shall burn beneath our might. But then again, 'he' may show up any time, too." Troubled Hand shook his head solemnly. "If he does...then that means the Patriots have already caught on to our plan and we're fucked." At that point the two trailed off down the hall, into a room at the far north-west side. Jumping out from behind the wall, Snake and Raiden searched the area, weapons drawn an ready. No one else was in the large hall. Not taking any chances, Snake unpinned a chaff grenade and tossed it across the hallway. It exploded into the chaff burst and, as expected, Snake heard many cameras swerving about wildly, electronically confused. "Come on, Raiden, we haven't got much time," said Snake. And Snake and Raiden descended deeper into the hallway, following Hand and this man. But when they entered the room that the two men had entered, both Snake and Raiden looked around. This was a completely bare room.

"Snake, why did they go in here?" Raiden queried. "I dunno..." replied Snake, "it may be a trap --"

"You thought correct," came a melodic voice from above them. Just then, they heard the computer panel in the door behind them explode. "And now I have you right where I want you."

The Starfish – Mending Soldier

_**(Matt LeBlanc)**_

"Oh no, not another one," said Raiden grimly. "Yeah, The Wolverine didn't serve much of a threat to you. Something tells me this blondie's your partner. "This _blondie's_ name is Raiden." "Oh yeah, Raiden? Strange name." Raiden shook his head. He got a lot of that in the Big Shell. "But I've heard all about you, Solid Snake, descendant of Big Boss! Bravo, bravo!" The Starfish clapped his hands. "I am The Starfish, the mender of wounds." The Starfish just then dropped from the ceiling onto the floor in front of Snake. "Go on," he said, in a harmless stance, "shoot me." Snake didn't like to hear "mender of wounds" and "shoot me" near each other, but he wasn't going to give up a chance to stop this battle before it starts. So Snake fired a round of the USP into the man's heart. And it went through, dead center. He winded back a bit, obviously hurt by the bullet. But then Snake and Raiden witnessed something amazing happen.

The bullet wound actually _sealed itself shut_. Where the bleeding, gaping hole in the man's chest was, new flesh had appeared. He may be able to survive a single bullet, but not a barrage of them. Snake again pressed his fire, several bullets piercing him, one even going straight through his brain. But the man simply looked right back at Snake, every one of his wounds closing up. "Are you done?" Snake's head was filled with grim thoughts. Raiden didn't know what effect a tranquilizer round would have on him, but he fired a round of it into The Starfish's head. Strangely enough, the man reacted as normally as someone just hit in the head with a tranquilizer round would be; fall unconscious. While the man was on the ground, Snake filled the man full of holes. But just as Snake and Raiden thought he was dead, he stood up, ripping his shirt off. "Cheap shot," said The Starfish. "You see this?" He pulled out a small device, about the size of a taser. He pushed a button on it, and Raiden gaped at it.

In his hand the man held a spark shooter. It fired a coil of electricity from its tip and buried itself into the wall between Snake and Raiden. "You're both dead." And with that, the three fought.

Snake dove behind The Starfisgh, but he fired a round of the spark shot and it nicked Raiden in the shin. Raiden fired another round at The Starfish, but the round was shot out of flight by a spark. The Starfish jumped up in the air before Snake could fire the USP at him and he attached himself to the upper rafter. He literally had a powerful adhesive to his feet. But how did his feet stay free when he was on the ground...? Almost on cue The Starfish answered Snake's thought. "I made this adhesive; it only responds when it touches certain metals. Like the steel in your gun," and with that, he drop-kicked at Snake's gun. Snake however flung his USP to the side, and Raiden took this time to fire a tranquilizer round at him. He fell fast asleep again, and Snake shook his head. Snake fired the USP at The Starfish's limp form. A bullet hole appeared in his abdomen, and it did not heal up immediately. It stayed like a normal hole until he regained consciousness. That was how to beat him. Snake nodded to Raiden and he fired another tranquilizer round at him. This time sensing the round, The Starfgish ducked, but Snake already had his own M9 at his head and pulled the trigger. The Starfish fell limp again. Snake fired five rounds into his heart, and they did not heal up.

Just before The Starfish had drawn his last breath, he pressed another button on his spark shooter. "Survive the trials..." And with that, The Starfish passed away.

What happened was eight machine guns, four spark spot launchers similar to the miniature one he had, six Stinger missile launchers, and ten hand cannons emerged from the walls. Snake and Raiden gasped.

--

The Dragon threw a flaming sphere at The Polar Bear, which The Polar Bear then formed another ice shield in front of. The Polar Bear manipulated the ice shield to fly into The Dragon. The Dragon shot forth a spiraling blast of flame and it wrapped itself around the ice shield, melting it away in transit.

"Dragon, I WILL kill you!" The Dragon simply smirked, but The Polar Bear materialized a large sword of ice. The Dragon, picking up on what he was going to do, materialized his own sword made of fire. Both of them ripped the swords into their grip and struck at each other, meeting each other's blade, both of them striving to keep their energies into preserving the weapons. The Polar Bear drew back and swung forward toward The Dragon's neck with a vicious slash, but The Dragon blocked the strike and returned his own counter-attack. They both kept up their power within the "blades," neither of them backing down. They finally gave a grand strike to each other, and it went through.

The Polar Bear swung his "blade" to The Dragon's left, The Dragon swinging his fire sword to The Polar Bear's right.

And there they stood, both clutching a relatively deep wound in each other's chests. The Polar Bear sported an unnaturally red scar on his right breast, bleeding profusely, while The Dragon showed a very blue scar on his left breast, bleeding just as bad. Both of them looked into each other's eyes, and The Polar Bear retreated backwards, towards the door Snake and Raiden escaped through. The Dragon did the same, and both of the elemental warriors fled from battle, The Dragon disappearing in the elevator and The Polar Bear through the exit.


	20. Going Up

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

Just before The Starfish had drawn his last breath, he pressed another button on his spark shooter. "Survive the trials..." And with that, The Starfish passed away.

What happened was eight machine guns, four spark spot launchers similar to the miniature one he had, six Stinger missile launchers, and ten hand cannons emerged from the walls. Snake and Raiden gasped.

--

As soon as the machine guns whirred to life, Snake and Raiden closed their eyes, hoping for the best. But no, they did not hear machine guns firing, or bullets piercing their flesh. No, instead they heard many crashes and metal falling harmlessly to the floor. When they opened their eyes, a woman, completely covered by an exoskeleton, was brandishing a blade to both of them. "Who are you?" said a frightened Raiden, his M9 raised to her head.

"Put that thing away!" said the woman, and Snake took a long, hard look at her. A memory floated back to him...

_...The strange being could only be Gray Fox. But how could he still be alive...? But then, the ninja placed a finger on its mask and pressed down on the plate. The steel illusion disappeared and showed a glass veil that revealed the being's face. Sadly, it was not Frank Jaegar's. It was some woman he had never seen before._

That was it...! It was her! The woman who had Meryl's throat to her blade...and here she was again, saving them instead. But now, the woman stared intently at Snake. She took a chance and jumped behind him, injecting a syringe into Snake's neck. Snake whirled around but she was already behind him again. He turned around again and she stared into the blood she just collected. "Oh no...you...the Legacy...!" When she said that, a beep was heard. She crumbled to the ground, completely shut down.

"What the...?" said Snake and Raiden at the same time.

--

Troubled Hand walked down the long hallway, hearing of the deaths of The Wolverine and assumed The Starfish would be dead as well. Oh well, their greatest weapon was not used yet; The Eagle and The Owl were still ahead, and they were not even his greatest weapon. Pulling out his TMP, he shot open the door leading to Deadeye's chambers, it was his way of testing him. What appeared to be Deadeye still faced a wall, looking in the complete opposite direction of Hand but had his USP pointed directly at Hand's head, almost as if a bullseye was on his forehead.

"You really need to stop doing that," said Deadeye.

"I need to know you'll be on your toes at all times," replied Troubled Hand.

--

Snake and Raiden had since trekked on, evading guards' gaze and hiding wherever they could. Snake had picked off of the guards he had knocked uncosncious seven incendiary grenades, ten clips for his USP, four clips for his M9. Raiden had picked up seventeen clips for the M9 and three flash grenades. They found nothing for awhile, but there was one consistent thing happening, they kept hearing a lone gunshot a floor ahead of them, although the only way up was a staircase closely guarded and set with infrared sensors. With a chaff grenade they could get through (which they had only three of), but there was the problem of fighting the enemy soldiers. Maybe a few incendiary grenades would do the trick

When Snake and Raiden got there, Snake burst open the door with an already unpinned incendiary grenade in hand. Tossing it to a few unsuspecting soldiers, it burst into flames and engulfed four of them in flames. Screaming at the top of their lungs, the remaining five soldiers sprung into actions. They opened fire on Snake and Raiden before they could draw their own handguns, but they managed to dive behind a stone staircase side. Drawing their handguns, thy waited for a pause in their fire, and blind-fired four shots into the soldiers, and apparently two of them took out two of the soldiers. Their assault rifles needed reloading, so Snake and Raiden took out the remainder of the sentries and ran up the stairs, evading the flames they had set. When they reached the second-floor door, fourteen soldiers were charging down the hallway. Thinking quickly, Snake and Raiden unpinned four incendiary grenades, threw them to the floor, and flipped over the railings. When the sentries burst the door open, the grenades exploded into a glorious show of destruction. All of them quickly became burning husks.

--

The Polar Bear kept forming and reforming ice spheres in his palms, looking out of the window to the falling snow. He had no upper clothing on, and he was treating his red scar. For some reason, it had not stopped bleeding. Sure, it was bleeding a lot less now, but a few tricklets of blood came every once in a while. He actually sealed the unnaturally red scar with ice, but oddly enough, the ice would always melt. It was almost as if the scar was just as hot as the flames The Dragon produced. He remembered the days he was a lowly mercenary, freezing an area to a point of near winter (even if it was in the summertime) as his mark of death. Suddenly, Deonorth got a call on his codec.

"Polar Bear, where the hell are you? Deadeye's getting restless." It was the voice of his commander, Troubled Hand.

"Right here, boss. And Deadeye, he is ready, correct?"

"Yes...and oh yes, before you go, I wanted to talk to you about something. Have you fought Snake and the other one yet?"

"...Yes, I have." The Polar Bear rubbed his chest again.

"Well, did he have a flamethrower or something? We picked up quite a bit of flame discharge down there."

"...No, he did not have a flamethrower."

"Then what the hell was those flames down there? Don't tell me...he's here, isn't he?" Hand sounded distasteful.

"Who, sir?"

"Don't play dumb with me, you dumbfuck!" Troubled Hand spouted. "I KNOW only The Dragon is capable of pulling off that kind of flame show! Don't tell me he's infiltrated here, has he?" Troubled Hand was furious at this point.

"No sir, you need not worry about him. He's gone." Deonorth, though, wasn't completely sure.

"Well, if he has, then this whole failed effort is YOUR fault, and I will hold you COMPLETELY RESPONSIBLE!"

"I understand, sir," The Polar Bear let show more anger in his voice than he had anticipated.


	21. The Triangle of Death

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

"Don't play dumb with me, you dumbfuck!" Troubled Hand spouted. "I KNOW only The Dragon is capable of pulling off that kind of flame show! Don't tell me he's infiltrated here, has he?" Troubled Hand was furious at this point.

"No sir, you need not worry about him. He's gone." Deonorth, though, wasn't completely sure.

"Well, if he has, then this whole failed effort is YOUR fault, and I will hold you COMPLETELY RESPONSIBLE!"

"I understand, sir," The Polar Bear let show more anger in his voice than he had anticipated.

--

Snake and Raiden winced at the destruction they had just wreaked. Surely someone figured out their presence by now...but for some reason, there were twelve more soldiers burned to a crisp in the hallway. Surely the grenades hadn't spread that far, and behind a closed door at that... Behind the soldiers and on the opposing wall to Snake and Raiden is a huge "D" burned into the wall. D...? What does the "D" stand for? Suddenly, Snake got a call on his codec.

"So, Snake...you decided to take the wide and easy route. That's what 'he' did."

"Who is this?" said an estranged Snake. Raiden picked up suit and tuned to the channel Snake was in.

"Please, Snake, keep that voice in your head at bay. Don't give in." The voice sounded electronically scrambled.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" But nothing but static was heard.

"Odd..." said a curious Raiden.

"Tell me about it..." said a just-as-curious Snake. "But anyway, let's get a move on."

Waiting down the huge hallway for the two infiltrators was a man standing about 6'4" and 175 pounds. He had a bandanna wrapped around his left eye, and sported mutton chops on his scarred face. At his side was a heavily modified Beretta. Snake drew his M9, hoping the rather large man hadn't seen them yet. It had even appeared that way, for he just stared into space and did not move a muscle. But before Snake could fire, the other man's Beretta was out and already fired, coming so close to his head that he could feel the heat of the bullet through the air. It even burned a few hairs off of Snake's scalp. Then the man turned around a walked the other way, but his Beretta was still pointed at Snake and Raiden. Just before Snake was about to shoot again, no fewer than twelve bullets had came their way; each one barely missed. How could his aim be so good with him not even looking at them...? Snake and Raiden both finally fired their M9s at him, and they hit dead center. The man, however, seemed unaffected. He finally gave an audible cue by laughing.

"Snake, you have no idea what you're up against," said the man. "I am Deadeye, the Lord of Precision."

Deadye -- Omnisightly Gun Soldier

_**(Samuel L. Jackson)**_

"Y'know Snake, I can see you with my back turned. You're about to pull the trigger, right? And your friend...oh yeah, the blond kid. Heads up, blondie, I'm about to kill you." Just then, a lone bullet came from Deadeye's barrel to Raiden's head. Raiden only barely dodged it.

"Heh heh heh...yeah, that's right bitch," said the cocky figure known as Deadeye, "flip over." Raiden got angry and rapid-fired his M9 at them man. Buit the rounds seemingly had no effect...guess they'd have to resort to lethal means. Snake and Raiden both drew their USPs and started rapid-firing. Deadeye quickly evaded all of them, with his back still turned. Two bullets, however, had pierced his abdomen. ""AGH! Motherfuckers! Shit!" He then fired awesomely at Snake and Raiden, each one of them would have been a bullseye hit were it not for their well-tuned reflexes. Snake and Raiden hid behind a few columns to evade fire. He was reloading. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," said Deadeye in a sinister sing-song tune of voice. "Come on now, this isn't fair, two against one. We need some more players for this game...I know! Eagle! Owl! Come on!" Suddenly, the hall became pitch-black; the hallway itself was so dark, no one could see anything. No illumination whatsoever was in this place. Then suddenly, the whole hallway was engulfed into blinding solar light. Snake and Raiden both tightly closed their eyes to shield against the blinding light. When they both passed, three figures stood in the hallway...

The master of light, The Eagle.

The master of darkness, The Owl.

The master of precision, Deadeye.

The three of them stand as the Triangle of Death.

"I will blind you with light," said The Eagle. "And I will blind you with darkness," said The Owl. "And I'll just blow the fuck outa ya," said an overconfident Deadeye.

The Eagle -- Light Soldier

_**(William Shatner)**_

The Owl -- Darkness Soldier

_**(Phil LaMarr)**_

The Eagle shot forth a burst of light to Snake's eyes, blinding him. Raiden, however, was almost plagued with a ray of darkness. Raiden had barely avoided it and fired a shot at The Owl, piercing his side. Deadeye was taking aim to Snake with his Beretta, but Raiden fired a USP round at him while he was doing this and got blasted in the upper-right area of the chest. "AGH! That's IT, mothafucka!" Suddenly, Deadeye spun out of control and burst-fired everything in the distance. Snake had just recovered and barely missed Deadeye's anger, but Raiden had caught two bullets in the abdomen. Raiden was at safety behind the column but was badly wounded. He had his combat knife out, prying the bullets out of his flesh and suturing the wounds shut. Snake tossed an icnendiary grenade from behind the column and burst Deadeye into flames, presumably dead. But before any more havoc could continue, The Eagle had spontaneously combusted. His whole body soon burned, and his charred remains crumbled to the floor. The Owl, however, shot himself in the brain. Peeking out from behind the corner, Snake had his USP drawn for any signs of life. All Snake could see behind his now dead foes was a large red cape turning the corner, followed by a swoosh. Snake and Raiden both charged down the corner to see who it was that was responsible for this, but when they turned the corner of the hallway, no one was to be found.

"What the hell...?" said Snake.

--

On a ledge outside, there stood The Dragon and The Bat.

"Boss, we just found where you were. I came immediately when I heard you left for Alaska. Something here?"

The Dragon shook his head. "Yes and no. Yes, these terrorists have stolen La-li-lu-le-lo's Metal Gear. I was sent to get it back and to eliminate any involved. It appears Snake is here, followed by that blond kid calling himself Raiden."

The Bat moved his head about, almost as if looking for something. This wasn't possible of course, The Bat being blind. "Does Ocelot know about this?"

"Why does it matter?" said The Dragon coldly.

"Boss, I don't trust him. He --" The Bat began.

"Enough, Bat. I trust him and that is my final word."

The Bat waved in submission. "All right, all right. But tell me, does he know?" The Bat repeated.

"...No." The Dragon sighed. "But onto bigger things...damn, I'm freezing out here." The Dragon shivered. The Bat noticed something; a tear in The Dragon's clothing.

"Boss, what is that?" The Bat pointed at his ice blue scar.

The Dragon turned his head slightly. "...Just one more reminder that Deonorth will never change..." The Dragon composed himself. "Anyway, get back. Tell them that Metal Gear will begin the sequence. Note though that it might take ages, even a few years."

The Bat slowly nodded. "It'll be worth the delay. Because then we'll have...damn," said The Bat. "Some sentries over there. Better snap 'em and come back later...see ya." And with that, The Bat jumped off into the white abyss.


	22. Mind Games

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY TITLE IN THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. ALL CHARACTERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. THIS FICTION IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH KONAMI OR ANYONE WITHIN KONAMI. THIS FICTION IS NOT FOR PROFIT OR PERSONAL GAIN, AND MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED IN ANY FORM. THIS IS A FICTION CREATED BY NOTHING MORE BY A SUPPORTER OF THE SERIES (A "FAN FICTION," IF YOU WILL) AND WAS CREATED SIMPLY TO PROMOTE THE METAL GEAR FRANCHISE. **

The Bat slowly nodded. "It'll be worth the delay. Because then we'll have...damn," said The Bat. "Some sentries over there. Better snap 'em and come back later...see ya." And with that, The Bat jumped off into the white abyss.

--

Snake was just recovering from what had just happened, and Raiden was still clutching tightly at his abdomen. But still they carried on, albeit Raiden had difficulty in doing so. Snake knew where he was shot luckily wasn't in any internal organs, it would just cause massive pain.

After a long walk, Snake heard something faint. Thinking quickly, Snake dived behind a large steel crate in the large hallway, with Raiden following closely behind. Raiden just barely took cover before the threat revealed itself. A squad of seven guards was strafing down the hall. "Hey," one of the soldiers said, "see that?" He pointed at a scorched part of the wall Snake and Raiden hadn't noticed. "This is the stuff Bear told us to watch out for. He's probably down this way..." When the soldiers passed by, Snake and Raiden stalked and peeked around the corner to see if they were out of earshot and spotting distance. All of a sudden it got very cold in the hallway. Everything seemed so bitter so fast. It must've been below zero degrees, rivaling the coldness of the harsh, unforgiving snowlands outside of the compound. The entire hallway frozen, but something strange happened. When the ice hit Snake's feet, Snake couldn't move no matter how hard he tried. Snake's weapon froze and it levitated out of his hand, hitting the ice. The frozen M9 was part of the icy floor now, and Snake couldn't reach it. Over a loudspeaker, these words came. Then, the ice all melted, almost as soon as all of this happened. Written into the wall with icicles, the words "YOU SHALL FALL" seemed glued in place. Snake and Raiden both looked around, and knew the message was correct; a trap door opened beneath them and they fell into the darkness. Then, lights shot on, illuminating the entire underground area. "Snake...and the blond one..." All of a sudden a completely black-cloaked figure stood in front of them. Snake fired an M9 round at him but the round went through him and bounced off of the wall behind him. Then, three additional images appeared, side by side. Snake and Raiden were confused. Snake and Raiden fired their M9s at the images, but when they were shot, they disappeared. Then, nine images of the same structure were backflipping and cartwheeling. One was jumping off of the steel rafters. Then, they all frozen leaving only one. "Snake, The Polar Bear has denied you life. I have promised him you both would die. Raiden said "What does that cold-crotched pansy want with black-cloaked 'intimidating' figures like you?" "Oh, you'll find he needs me a great deal. You see..." The image disappeared, and reappeared behind Snake and Raiden. "There is no possible way you can defeat me. This area is equipped with a sonic mind semi-nullification generator, developed by 'them.' You have no idea where I truly am, or if I even look like this black-claoked figure..." Raiden said "Oh, I think it is you. All of you freaks have some Halloween costume." Snake nodded his head and shot Raiden a God-fearing look. Snake could only tell the voice was feminine, so it meant they were facing a woman. Just great...

To play with Raiden's head, the woman simulated Snake getting his throat slit, blood spewing from his neck, his writhing body collapsing to the floor. After the horrible scene ended, Snake was standing right there, unfazed. "Ha ha ha...! I can mess with your minds so hard you can't even realize what I'm going to do..." four images appeared around Snake and four images appeared around Raiden, "next." aiden dropped his M9 and drew the M4 strapped to his back, and started firing wildly. It seemed Raiden had lost all sanity, firing in all directions. Snake was untouched but everything else was sorry. "Ha ha...do you really this think battle can be won with weapons? This is a battle of the mind, the psyche...thanks to...'them.'" She then changed her tone. "Sentries, come to Hall 14B2. The enemy is here." Snake and Raiden both needed to break out of this mind trance quickly before enemy reinforcements arrived. Snake threw four grenades into the air as quickly as he could and shot all four of them with his M9, detonating the explosives. Raiden fired wildly with his assault rifle again, and all of a sudden, the visions stopped. Raiden heard something crackle and pop. When the visions stopped, it appeared they had never left the hallway, and they had never fallen into a trap, or even that the hall had frozen over. But one thing still remained; the enemy reinforcements, for they were about to see Snake and Raiden. They hid again from the sentries. "The Alterer, they are not here. What gives?" "I...the signal died...never mind. Forgive me soldiers, for giving you a false alarm, then." Raiden chuckled very lightly as to not alert the enemy soldiers at what was "The Alterer's" failing.

Trekking forward, Snake and Raiden managed to slither past a few sentries before they heard a radio transmission on one of the guards' radios. "I TOLD you," said a voice that belonged to Troubled Hand, "you were supposed to STOP him!" "I'm sorry, sir..." said the sentry. "I have a mind to let Polar Bear have his fun with you..." The feminine voice on the radio replied "No...no...what are you doing...? AGH!" Suddenly the radio cut. Snake hoped that was the end of the Alterer.

--

In a different part of the compound, The Bat and The Dragon were stalking near Troubled Hand's headquarters. Getting prepared for the assault, The Dragon shot forth an explosive flame burst that engulfed the steel PAN security door into liquid metal. The Bat jumped into the room so quickly that a very surprised Troubled Hand grabbed his TMP and opened fired on The Dragon. This was useless, of course, for the Dragon had a very hot flame shield against the bullets, which melted them before they could harm him. Troubled Hand fred until his gun was empty. But before he could reload, The Bat had Troubled Hand's throat against his knife. "You have failed...Hand," said The Bat in a raspy voice. He then used the weapon on Troubled Hand's helpless neck. But rather than slicing open his throat, he butted the end of it into a specififc blood vessel that caused him to stand for a few moments looking at The Dragon and The Bat. Touching his neck, no blood had came, but before he finished his thoughts, he fell to his knees in absolute pain. He started vomiting blood and coughing uncontrollably. Blood was spurting out of his nose and smoothing out of his eyes like bloody tears. His heart spasmed and Troubled Hand finally died...but the convulsions didn't stop even when he lay dead. The Bat laughed hysterically as The Dragon looked triumphant. The Bat let his face get near the blood to be soaked in some kind of twisted fetish. The Dragon spoke. "Our job is finished here, Bat. We should go now..." "But boss, what of The Polar Bear?" "...I...I..." "Boss, we can both defeat him if we work together." "I...alright. We can attempt." With that, the two set off.

When they arried in The Polar Bear's ice chambers, The Dragon took a deep breath before bursting in. The Bat leapt into his chambers and attempted to slice The Polar Bear's throat quickly, perhaps catching him by surprise. But The Polar Bear formed an ice barrier where The Bat was to be attacking. The Bat backflipped off of the barrier. With that, The Dragon said "We have come to end you, Polar Bear. You cannot possibly take on both of us." The Polar Bear smirked. "Oh yeah?" With that, he formed a spherical shield that was nine foot thick, and was harder than permafrost. The Dragon shot forth superheated flame, but The Polar Bear seemed to be at peace keeping the barrier up, because The Dragon was only able to melt three inches, and The Bat helplessly sliced at the ice. Then, an earth-shattering bang filed the entire compound the sound was so massive. Shards of the barriers flew in every direction and shredded his chambers to pieces. The Dragon ran over to The Bat and shielded both him and himself from the flying ice shards with his 4,000 Kelvin shield. It took a lot out of the Dragon to reproduce the surface heat of the sun, and was left drained. He collapsed, but The Bat caught him before he fell and fleed from the compound out of the new exit The Polar Bear had made with the massive explosion of ice.

"It's all right, boss..." said The Bat to his near-unconscious friend, "we're getting to safety. I don't think I'm ready to help you yet..." The Dragon could've produced the same effect as The Polar Bear had with his exploding ice sphere, but he could not because The Bat was nearby. Just wait...just wait until The Dragon can face The Polar Bear without anyone in his way, and not in the confines of a compound.


End file.
